Out of Control
by russetfurbr
Summary: Vincent's blackouts force him to make a decision that'll change his life. Inspired in the preview photos of 1x07. Rated due to possible future violence. Incredible banner with OMG factor kindly made by BritCroft.
1. Incarcerated

**Disclaimer: This is just ****a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**If I did, Cat would never let Evan kiss her. He's charming, but he´s so wewwwwwww….**

**Although I wouldn't mind owning a shirtless Vincent. **

**Incarcerated **

Vincent could see his longtime friend walking around with bowed shoulders in a clear sign of defeat and sorrow, through the cell's bars. Wishing, once again, had died in Afghanistan. His survival was the real tragedy in his life.

Everything would be so much easier if he simply didn't exist anymore. He wouldn't be incarcerated in a makeshift cell located in an abandoned warehouse, hating himself for almost hurting the only person that had been there for him during his worst times. JT wouldn't have to spend his days fearing for his life and watching over his shoulders, pushing people away in order to hide their secret, never having a girlfriend or getting close to some of his work colleagues.

Vincent had been so selfish when he first contacted his best friend, desperately needing help and the comfort of a friendly face. He should have known.

Loyal JT.

Sincere JT.

He would never turn his back on him and the DNA altered man knew it. And for that, that great guy would indefinitely be doomed to that poor excuse of a life they had.

"Are you having a hunger strike or something?" JT asked in a mocking tone, pointing to the sandwich he had slipped through the cage's feeding hole earlier, obviously trying to lightening up the mood.

It didn't work.

"Not hungry," the prisoner answered, his voice showing no sign of emotion.

"Look, man, it sucks that you have to be sitting there, but not eating won't help us a bit. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll have a lot of trouble if you get sick," his friend tried to reason.

The ex-soldier just shrugged, "Don't worry, I don't get sick. Maybe it's a good chance to see if I can starve to death."

"Okayyyy, over dramatic much?" the Bio Chem professor said annoyed. "We just have to figure out what's triggering these blackouts that make you lose control so we can work on a way to prevent them. You never really told me what happened yesterday when Catherine came to see you. Did she mention the guy she kissed on her birthday? Maybe it´s still the jealousy thing."

"No, JT, she didn't, her visit wasn't stressing at all. Well, she kind of did mention him, but it was only to say that it didn't mean anything. As far as she told me, he was the one that kissed her," he said, sighing. "Anyway, the stress might have something to do with me worrying about her mental health. She told me that I'm the best thing in her life right now. Clearly, the girl is insane."

"What? She told you that? That's great, man! I was kind of worried she would break your heart!" JT declared excited.

"How can that be great, JT? I´m a freak, a danger to people. Weren't you there half an hour ago when I transformed and tried to attack you? You, of all people, man! If I did that to you, imagine what I can do to her if something like this happens when she's around!" Vincent yelled exasperated.

"First of all, you didn't attack me. You transformed and was confused, not really in control and you pushed me out of your way, okay? I just shot you with the tranquilizer as a precaution. Nothing happened to me, I´m not that fragile," JT explained for the third time. "Nor is Cat, as far as I know. She's a cop, she can take care of herself."

Vincent's panic with the situation was starting to get on his nerves; it wasn't like they hadn't faced rough times before. Then again, he just admitted what was really bothering him so much.

"Sure, that makes me feel so much better. She's a cop so it's no big deal to hang out with a dangerous beast," he stated bitterly.

"You're not a beast, Vincent, I already told you that a million times. You're my best friend, a great, decent guy that was fooled and put in an impossible situation. And, like every human being, you deserve to be loved and, despite how annoying I think that woman is, I'm truly happy for you," the slightly bald man said with such an irritating confidence which made Vincent fear a transformation again and really attack him.

"You're missing the point here!" the veteran argued.

"No, you're the one missing the point! There's a beautiful, although annoying, girl out there that literally has seen the worst of you. She's not scared of you, has not ran and she admitted that she likes you! A girl, that you saved from certain death once and have been checking on from time to time ever since. It's so perfect that it sounds ridiculously like a fairy tale, if you ask me," JT countered.

"It isn't a fairy tale, it's a horror story! And who the Hell are you right now? I'm starting to think that you're having way too much green tea lately, JT. I'm not so sure if this Sarah girl is a good influence on you," the other man replied, not resisting the temptation of teasing him, even when he was so stressed.

JT opened his mouth to a bitter retort when Vincent stiffed, looking nervously past his shoulders.

"What's going on here? What happened to you?" sounded a worried feminine voice.

Cat fled past JT, apparently not even noticing him, kneeling down besides Vincent from outside the cage. She put her hands in the bars, as if she was trying to reach for him.

"Catherine, what are you doing here? I thought you couldn't leave the office today," Vincent whispered, his shame reflected on his body language; he wasn't looking at her.

"Turns out that there wasn't that much paperwork to do so I thought about stopping by to see you because Tess and I started to work on a complicated case and I don't know when I will have some time. Vincent, what's going on?" she murmured sweetly, trying to soothe his obvious distress.

"I attacked JT," he said plainly.

"What?" she asked alarmed, looking over at JT for a better explanation.

"He didn't attack me. He transformed, was a little out of control, I shot him with a tranquilizer and he blacked out. End of the story," his roommate explained in a short version.

"Yeah, that will definitely explain the hematomas tomorrow," Vincent mocked bitterly.

"That doesn't explain why you're locked in this cage," she pointed, not letting their harsh exchange distract her.

"I've been having blackout episodes. My head starts to hurt pretty badly and the next thing I know, I'm in a dirty alley, covered in blood that isn't mine. We thought it would be better for everyone if I'm locked up until we figure out what's happening to me," the caged man explained, still not looking at her; he didn't want to see her disappointment, her fear.

"Covered in blood?" Catherine repeated as a question.

"Animal blood, don't worry, I tested it. We think that maybe he crossed paths with some cat or dog," JT comforted her, although he was pretty sure she wasn't really paying attention to him; she hadn't taken her eyes off Vincent since she arrived.

Realization dawned on her and she exclaimed, "Wait! That's the real reason you didn't show up for dinner that night, isn't it? Why didn't you tell me?"

"That was the first time something like that happened to me. I was heading to your place when it happened. I got scared, wasn't thinking clearly, the only thing I wanted was to come back home," Vincent confessed, lowering his head.

They all went silent for a few seconds, then he looked at her for the first time. The hopelessness in his eyes broke her heart.

"I'm sorry," Vincent said, but wasn't sure what he was apologizing for.

"It's not your fault, Vincent," the girl affirmed, extending her fingers towards him, wishing that there was more space between the bars so she could reach him, wishing to caress his handsome face to make his pain go away.

He wanted so much to believe her, to lean against the bars and let her fingers touch him and feel that incredible electric current that ran through his body that hits him each and every time their skins touched, to let her love fill his heart with hope, but he knew it was wrong. He shouldn't have dragged Catherine and JT into the dark world he lived in. It wasn't fair to them. Thankfully, her mobile rang with a text message tone and she took her hands off the bars to pick it up, taking the temptation away.

"It´s Tess, she has a good lead on the case," she said, looking at him with pleading eyes, obviously torn between her duty and the will to be there for him.

"Go!" the prisoner said firmly.

"I'm so sorry, Vincent. I… I'll come back as soon as I can," the female detective promised in a whisper.

"I don't think it's wise coming back here," Vincent replied, averting his eyes from her again; it hurt too much to push her away, but he had to do it.

"Vincent!" JT started to protest, but his roommate cut him off.

"It's true, JT! Besides, we have to concentrate in our research," he said.

"You don't want me here? Is that what you're saying?" Catherine said in a hushed, disbelieved tone.

He couldn't look at her; if he did, he would crack. He also couldn't confirm it, after all. He had promised never lie to her. So he took refuge in a clever reply.

"You're a smart girl."

Vincent was looking at the opposite wall from where she was so JT was the one to witness her shock. She looked at Vincent's best friend with an expression that made JT wants to smack some sense into the man's thick head. He was so shocked with the way the veteran had treated Cat that he was speechless.

She was quicker than JT, getting to her feet instantly and rushing to the exit without saying another word. But, she wasn't quick enough to hide the tears rolling down her face from him. The professor never felt so bad for someone in his entire life. It was only when he heard the door's click that he regained his speaking abilities.

"I take my words back, Vincent. You are a beast," he accused, turning his back and leaving his friend with his guilt.

**A/N: I know I owe you a new chapter to my other story, guys. I'm sorry to everyone that is following it, but don't worry, I haven't stopped writing it, I'm just a little uninspired lately. **

**I was so ready to NOT like this show at all, I don't even know what made me look for it on the Internet and, honestly, the first two episodes weren't that great.**

**The third episode was the one that changed my mind, and now I'm so addicted to this series that this two week gap is making me crazy. I strongly recommend to those that haven't watched it yet to give it a try. Maybe we can have enough fans to make it worth a second season. (Fingers crossed.)**

**So I saw the photos previews from the next episode and got inspired and this is the result. What do you think? Is it worth a second chapter? The story in my head is very short, maybe three chapters. ****Hope to hear from you. **


	2. Moving On

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**Moving On**

"_She didn't feel worthy," Vincent had say, looking at her with such intensity that it was almost unbearable. _

"_How can you be so sure?" Catherine asked in a whisper due to the lump in her throat that made breathing difficult. _

"_Because I know how it feels like," he clarified before leaving her alone to ponder over what they discovered. _

The scene kept playing over and over on Catherine's mind. That moment had been so intense. It felt like the air surrounding them suddenly had become rarefied making it difficult to breathe. She just stood there looking at his beautiful eyes, incapable of thinking, speaking or moving.

He was right. The love printed on those paintings and sketches was undeniable, but what he said wasn't about that unfortunate couple, was about them. That explained his rude behavior earlier, the reason for him not showing up to dinner. She wasn't reading their relationship wrongly, he was just really scared. Admitting his weakness was such a brave and sweet gesture that she felt her eyes watering. But soon she felt a smile forming on her lips.

He liked her, too.

She had been so disappointed, had felt so heartbroken that she even considered simply stop seeing him, as he asked a thousand times when she first found him out at JT's house. Then, he took her by the hand to see the art studio and, once again, she was mesmerized by that sweet, complicate and sad man that entered her life like a tornado, leaving everything on his path upside down.

How could he think that? How couldn't he see what he meant to her? She knew that he underestimated himself, thinking that he was somehow lower than everybody else due to what that experiment did to him, but she never considered that he was insecure about her. She wasn't worry about it anymore, though, because she would make sure to be honest and straight, telling him how she felt. She smiled again.

That smile hadn't left her face since then, insistently turning her lips up at the most awkward moments. Tess had tormented her all day long, mockingly asking what was so entertaining about reading reports of a double homicide where the victims were tortured with the help of some sharp instrument, possibly a butcher's knife. Which wasn't entertaining at all, by the way. In fact, Cat was sure that her computer would soon start dripping blood. Of course, her partner attributed her light mood to Evan's constant flirting, which Cat didn't try to deny; it was easier to let her in the dark at the moment until they could figure out how to do that.

Because they would definitely find a way to be together. She was already too far deep to back down and she wouldn't allow him to do so, not after discovering that he was deep into it, too.

She put on a smile all day for the sake of appearance and because it really wasn't nobody's fault that she was constantly glancing at the clock, impatient to go to him. Apparently that was one of those days when the clock seemed to slow down just to irritate you. Eventually, though, it was finally time to leave work and she pondered at how her life had become a constant waiting for the next time to see him. Just see him. Know that he was alright, that he was still there, still wanted to spend time with her.

It was positively ridiculous! And wonderful! Talk about fall in love!

Then, they were together again and all that torturing time she had to wait was worth; it had been so perfect. They really talked to each other, admitting their insecurities and getting rid of that dark cloud that was hanging over their relationship. Cat just wished for him to be bolder and just kiss her already, but she was okay with waiting for his time; she knew how deeply hurt he was and that kind of wound took time to heal.

When she returned to have drinks with Tess she felt in ecstasy. She didn't remember being happier than that, even when Jake Austin, captain of the football team, asked her to the prom in high school – and he had been her first love. Only it never felt like that. What she felt for Vincent was devastating, final; she knew she would never love someone like that again. It was a scaring realization; he could crush her heart in an irreparable way.

The next day was almost unbearable. Besides the fact that she was dealing with boring paperwork that needed to be updated, she was restlessly waiting for the night when she would see him again. Her impatience gave good fruits, though, because she organized all the files faster than ever; it was a good way to make her mind focus instead of wandering to his smile, the warm way he looked at her, the scar deforming his face that only made him more handsome because it was a mark of his suffering.

Ugh! There she was, thinking of him again. She had to stop that. It wasn't like she was a high school girl anymore. Although, that was pretty much how he made her feel.

Tess came with a new case – a girl raped and murdered found in the park near the University – as soon as she declared herself free of report duties, teasingly saying that she felt obligate to find a way to rip that smile out of her face before being forced to wear sunglasses at work.

Her partner had already found some leads and planned on interviewing some people connected to the victim. Since there wasn't much to say about the crime scene because it rained and most evidences were erased, they would have to dig into relationships and possible other cases, which always meant long hours inside the precinct.

She told Tess that she had to go home to get extra clothes and check on Heather so she could spend the night working if it was necessary. Part of it was true and she did all that, but her real motivation was seeing Vincent and telling him not to wait for her at the fire escape that night.

What she found out inside the warehouse had to have been extracted from her worst nightmares. Her gentle Vincent was confined in a cage, looking like those sad tigers that missed the savannah you see in zoos. She was very aware of how much JT and Vincent feared his transformations, but nothing could prepare her to see that. The female detective ran to him, slightly aware of JT's presence, but she didn't acknowledge him; nothing else was important at that moment. She tried to suppress the fear that was numbing her body. Not fear of him, but fear for him.

They explained that Vincent had tried to attack JT in short words, like people do when they try to hide information and the ex-soldier wasn't looking at her and everything was so confuse and all she wanted to do was take him out of that stupid cell and her whole body ached to wrap him tightly in her arms, protecting him from the world. It was stupid and childish, but she didn't care.

Then, her love said that he didn't want her in his life anymore.

That was when her world crashed down. She was a cop, dealing with society's scum on daily basis. She had been a hyperactive child, climbing trees, trying to play with boys and all that reckless things normal kids do. Therefore, she was very familiar with pain, but the one squeezing her heart at that moment was the worst she ever experienced.

She didn't even know how she managed getting into her car and going home. Tess was waiting for her in the precinct, but she couldn't show up there liquefying herself in tears so she called the taller woman to explain that she had a big fight with her dad over the wedding. It was a lame excuse, but what else could she do? He didn't want her, but she still felt obligate to protect his secret.

Cat promised that she would just wait at home until she regained emotional control and then she would go to work and live her life normally, but somehow a couple of minutes became one hour, then three hours and so on. She cried herself until sleep, thrashing the whole night with nightmares full of prisons and a tall human figure turning its back on her and walking away.

The next couple of days were just a blur; she sank into work like a maniac, not allowing any time to think about anything, avoiding Tess so much that her friend actually asked her if she had done something to upset her, adding guilt to her enormous list of undesired feelings. It was a bad time; she had no clue how she survived those firsts two days without any word from him.

The only thing that still brought a smile on her face was Evan and his charming light mood. He declared that London had already been cloudy enough for a lifetime, which was one of the reasons for him to escape there as soon as he could, and he wouldn't allow her to bring the clouds to his life again.

"I know what will change this bad atmosphere around you in two minutes," he informed, his lovely British accent seeming especially musical, on their way to his lab, where Cat was going to see the body's autopsy results.

"And what would that be?" she asked, forcing herself to seem interested.

"Free dinner, silly. I didn't forget you promised to reschedule it and never actually did it," he replied, opening the door for her to pass.

She opened her mouth to say some idiotic excuse, but closed it again. Why she felt so bad for accepting Evan's attention, like she was betraying her own heart? It wasn't wrong seeing another guy because Vincent didn't want her. They weren't in a relationship and the sooner she convinced herself of it, the better. She had to move on and her work colleague seemed like the best option available. Why not?

"You know what, Evan? You're totally right. Are you free at eight o'clock?" Cat asked, seeming positively determinate.

His response was a bright smile.

**A/N: Italics are quotes from the show. Sorry if it's not accurate, but I just love that scene so much that I just want to see or read about it over and over.**

**How do you like my story so far? Leave me a review, okay?**

**I had to talk about this week's episode. It was simply heartbreaking seeing Vincent in that cell telling Cat that she was the one triggering his transformation. **

**And what was that about her telling Tess that the guy she was into didn't matter anymore? I don't get it.**

**I want them together now! It's taking too long for physical contact, although I was really excited seeing Cat packing for a weekend out with him. They didn't even hold hands; it's simply torturing. **

**What do you think? I know I'll sound needy, but I don't know anyone else that likes this show besides people in this fandom so please, talk to me. **


	3. Not a Home

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**Not a Home**

JT had a crappy week.

As much as he loved teaching, he couldn't find pleasure on being around people in his present mood. He just wished to get away from everything.

During those nine years he hid his best friend from a powerful secret governmental agency they had some bad times; the beginning was particularly difficult because they didn't have any clue to what could happen to them, how much Muirfield knew about Vincent's real condition and how much they could trust that he wouldn't go completely crazy and kill everything in 20 miles radius.

Nothing they had been through was like that, though. Vincent was kind of unpredictable when he was in his Terminator form, but a part of him always prevailed, restraining, fighting the rage. He never lost the complete control like it was apparently happening during those flashbacks. It was bad enough to deal with that stress alone. He didn't need to face Vincent and Catherine's misery.

He warned Vincent repeatedly that he was heading to a place he wouldn't be able to come back without getting hurt when they started to see each other regularly, but he simply didn't listen. Of course, JT knew those two were already in love – it was written all over their faces when they were together – and there wasn't much the ex-soldier could do to stop it, but he could have thought about the consequences. Especially the ones Catherine would have to deal with.

He felt guilty for having encouraged his friend to just come clean with the female detective about his feelings. Yes, he could tell himself that he was only trying to be a good friend, that he just wanted to see Vincent happy after all those years of loneliness and fear, but in the end, what good came out from all that? A few hours of happiness for both of them after the world came crashing down? Yeah, that was super!

"JT, are you listening to me?" Sarah's voice took him out of his dark thoughts startlingly.

Only then he realized that he was already outside the University building. He was aware that Sarah was walking with him, but they already had walked together in silence before so he knew she wouldn't consider it something awkward.

"Sorry, I was just... It's nothing. Did you say something?" he babbled, trying to act normally and failing like an idiot.

"I asked you if you would like to have a cop of coffee after class today," she repeated, looking at him with a suspicious expression. "Did something happen? You look like you're about to have a heart attack at any minute."

"Yeah, kind of. A friend of mine broke up with his girlfriend. He still loves her, but it's complicate so he's really depressed and I don't know what to do because..." he said in a rush, realizing too late that he was babbling. "And I really don't know why I'm sharing this! I'm sorry, I can't stop for a coffee today," he apologized and tapped his bag with the student's papers. "A lot of paper to grade. Can we reschedule?"

"No," she said firmly.

He felt his stomach twist with disappointment. Of course that would happen; what could make that week worse than loosing Sarah's interest?

"Since you won't have a coffee with me, I expect a dinner invitation. Soon," she stated with a cute playful wrinkle on her nose, turning her back to him and walking away.

For a minute, he just stood there with his mouth open, trying to process the fact that she had just asked him out. Right after he made a fool of himself, babbling like a schizophrenic cartoon character.

"_This girl is really incredible, isn't she?" _he thought, smiling and forgetting for a moment about all the unhappiness surrounding him.

What was short lived, because his own delight with that little display of interest reminded him of how much Vincent's face lighted up every time Cat did something that showed how much she appreciated his friend's company.

At first, JT got really annoyed with that little stubborn woman that didn't seem to get the hint and leave them alone, but even he had to admit that he never saw Vincent so wrapped up on a girl's finger. Not even his ex-fiancée had that effect on him; which, ultimately, proved to be a good thing because JT hated the woman. She always seemed too shallow to fit someone as caring as Vincent, although he never voiced his true impression of her. It was a relieve when Vincent broke up with her. Cat was different, though. It didn't take him too long to start accepting her presence in their lives and he could honestly say that he was starting to like her. Just starting. Because he wasn't soft like Vincent, letting her take his heart with just a sweet smile. Yeah, he was a though guy; he wouldn't crack so easily.

He was extra tired that week. Apart from the time he was in class, they spent every waking moment trying to figure out what was happening to Vincent and how to fix it. At each new failure, his roommate got a little more somber until the point where he started to speak in monosyllables.

They hadn't talked about Cat yet, though. Every time JT tried to come up with the subject, the ex-soldier simply turned his back to him, locking himself up in the cage and spending the rest of the day there. He thought about calling her, just to check how she was handling the separation, but he wasn't sure if he wouldn't be crossing the line or if it wasn't better for her to not hear from them anymore.

A clean break up. The concept sounded heartless, but there wasn't much they could do; if Cat was really the trigger for Vincent's blackouts the danger of getting her hurt was too much to risk. If anything happened to her by Vincent's hand, JT was sure it would destroy him. Therefore, to the sake of everybody's sanity, the separation was the best option. He wished he could erase the sadness and tears on her face from his mind, though.

Thinking about all those things made him want to turn back and follow Sarah to the coffee shop; he had zero will to go back to the warehouse. Over the years, the two friends transformed the cold and kind of scaring place into a home, but lately it seemed more like a cemetery. Only two reasons made him go back there: his loyalty and the extreme pity he had for Vincent.

He passed by their favorite Italian restaurant to buy some good food, intending to cheer Vincent up a little and delay his return a little more. That was how desperate he was. But, eventually, he ran out of excuses and headed back home.

"Vincent, are you hungry? I brought Italian," he called.

The warehouse was abnormally quiet, making his body hair bristle up. It was more like he was entering a mausoleum. JT called him three times more, just to be sure he was alone.

"Oh, this is not good," he said out loud, panicking.

Calling the ex-soldier's cell proved itself useless because the callings went straight to voice mail. A cold sensation took over him and a suspicion rose in his mind. He ran to his friend's room, trying to find some lead to what had happened. The place was untouched, all his things were in the same place. To an outsider, it would just look like he went to a walk, but he hadn't left the building the whole week so there was something off about it. Plus, JT was having a really bad feeling about his absence.

There were two envelops on his bed, though. The professor approached it warily, afraid to confirm his odd feeling. And sure enough, two letters were seating innocently on the mattress. One for him, one for Cat.

"_Oh, no, Vincent! What have you done this time?"_ he thought alarmed.

**A/N: I don't have words to describe 1x09! Perfect comes to my mind, but it just don't seem enough. **

**CW is better give us a second season, otherwise I would have to go to rehab. **

**Did you guys cried at the end? I did. Like a baby. The way Vincent/Beast held Cat tightly close to him was simply heartbreaking. **

**Thank God for Fan Fiction because I don't know how I would survive a month of hiatus without something to fulfill my obsession. **

**Just so you know, I already hate Vincent's ex-fiancée. There's enough obstacles to VinCat with Evan pinning to Cat. The last thing we need is a woman trying to get in the middle. **

**What do you think from the story so far? Review, please. **

**See ya!**


	4. Zombie Attack

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**Zombie Attack**

"Seriously, Cat! This new staring-at-the-fire-escape habit of yours is giving me the creeps!" Heather complained, once again exasperated with her older sister's distraction.

Something was wrong, but Cat simply wouldn't talk to her. Her sister had changed a lot after their mother's death, became more somber, introspect, but lately she just shut down, spending hours just looking at the window, like she was waiting for something.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the female detective responded blankly.

"Don't play dumb, Cat, I know you. Wait! This has to do with your work? Some perp is after you? Are we in danger?" she asked alarmed.

"Heather, calm down! There's nothing wrong! You have to stop reading Agatha Christie," the older woman said firmly in order to refrain Heather's wild imagination.

"Agatha Christie's the best, don't put her in the middle of this! And the hell there's nothing wrong! I hadn't see you this sad since mom's death. You're acting like a zombie these past days, not talking, barely eating, mumbling to yourself... I'm afraid you're going to attack me and eat my brain. You claim to be tired all the time, just going to your room and spending most part of your free time laying there. And I'm not even counting the fact that you're not acting like someone who just got a hot new boyfriend! Hot, Cat! With a British accent!" Heather complained in her hushed, passionate way.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat asked surprised. "You know what? Never mind. Evan's not my boyfriend; we only went to a couple of dates. You can barely count this as dating."

"Oh, come on, Cat! Okay, you just went out two times, but he comes to pick you up to work and brings you home everyday since day one. And stays for dinner. If he's not your boyfriend then you should explain that to him because you sure are his girlfriend!" the short haired girl said with a conviction that disconcerted her.

She never considered Evan's actions; to be totally honest, she never even noticed them. She just accepted what he gave to her in a time when she needed human contact the most, not really paying attention to it. Especially because it was... well, Evan. They were co-workers, friends who had taken a step into a possible personal relationship, therefore, those little things he was doing seemed normal enough.

Heather's confrontation shocked her, though, not because her sister thought they were dating, but because she realized that she didn't want to date him, that she never did. They flirted during their interactions at work, but to her it was only a fun cat/mouse fight. The only reason she had to start hanging out with him those past days was Vincent's rejection.

Vincent.

The name reverberated in her head, bringing a heavy wave of sadness with it. She fought with every fiber of her being not to dwell in depression, to not let him destroy her heart, to just forget about everything that happened between them. She failed epically. Even after a whole week without any kind of contact, her mind drifted back to him at any distraction.

"Hello! Earth to Catherine! You're spacing out again! What's happening to you?" her sister almost yelled, losing her short patience.

"I'm sorry, Heather, it's just... I never thought about that! You're right, I have to talk to Evan," Cat justified.

"Wait, what? That's not what I meant! You're breaking up with him? But, Cat, he's hot!" the younger woman exclaimed, astonished with the path that conversation was taking.

"I'm not breaking up with him because he never was my boyfriend. I know people think he's a catch, even I think he's a catch, but I don't want him, Heather. I'm not in love with him," Cat murmured, trying her hardest to hide the sorrow in her voice.

Heather looked right at her eyes, assuming an uncommon serious posture, saying, "Only someone in love would be that sure about not being in love with a guy like Evan."

Cat sighed. She could deny it, but she had already lied too much for her sister. Besides, she didn't have a reason to lie anymore.

"You're probably right," the older sister said slowly.

"Oh, my God! You're in love! Who is he? Do I know him? Why are you dating Evan, if you love somebody else?" the girl questioned, a little too loud for someone that was seating right next to Cat.

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't want me. I just started dating Evan because he rejected me, which is a stupid thing to do, I know, believe me. I just wasn't thinking straight," Cat replied, feeling that familiar lump in her throat again.

"Oh, sis, I'm so sorry! Forget about him! If this guy rejected you, he clearly is not in his right mind so you can consider yourself lucky," Heather concluded, trying to cheer her up.

"Maybe... I don't know... I just don't want to talk about this. At least, not right now. I'll talk to Evan tomorrow, though. I don't want to do to him what HE did to me."

"Okay, Cat, do what you think it's best. Just know that I"m here for you. And stop staring at the fire escape; you're freaking me out," her sister stated, hugging her tightly.

"I'll try, sis. I'm sorry for having you so worried about me. I'll get better, I promise. I'm going to bed now, I'm tired," the older woman said, heading to her room.

"See, there's the tired thing again! But, I understand now. Nothing gets you more worn out than a broken heart," Heather murmured, feeling sorry for her.

Cat didn't respond; there wasn't much she could say to that. She hadn't realized that she was showing up all those sorrow signs because she was, ironically, so wrapped up on the purpose of hiding her bad emotional state. She spent a good part of the night insomniac, thinking about what to say to Evan; as much as she knew that he wasn't the one, she cared about him and didn't want to hurt his feelings. It would be better to just come clean with him and end up that thing – she didn't know how to name it – between them once and for all; she was already feeling bad enough with her life, she didn't need to feel like a bitch for using him.

The next day came all too soon, bringing Evan with a smile and bagels. Cat sighed, not really wanting to have the conversation she planned all night to have with him. It wasn't like she believed that he would be crushed, it was just that she knew it wouldn't be pleasant. But, he was a big guy, used to dump girls all the time. Unfortunately, she would be the one to make him taste a little bit of his own venom. She refused his bagels, telling him that she wasn't feeling up for breakfast and that they needed to talk. Heather left the apartment in a hurry, wanting to avoid prying on their conversation.

"Evan, I don't really know how to say what I want to say so I'll be rudely frank and I'm sorry for that," the female detective started, staring the wall over his shoulder, unable to look at his face.

"That sounds like a really serious matter. Are you sure you want to be that dense at this time in the morning?" he asked, in a light mood.

Cat had been particularly difficult lately, but he thought it was only the pressure of her work combined with the new stage of their relationship. He was worried about dating a co-worker, too, but his mind was set on making it work even before they started. Cat was worthy the trouble.

"I don't, but I have to. I was talking to my sister yesterday after you left and she made me see something that I hadn't noticed," Cat said slowly, testing her ground. "Evan, do you think of me as your girlfriend?"

"Well, I know that we hadn't talk about this, but..." the medic started, but the girl cut him off.

"Because I'm not, Evan. I'm sorry if I mislead you, but I thought we were just having meaningless fun. It was never my intention to delude you. I know I'm sounding pretentious and I'm sorry. I just want you to know that I like you a lot, but I think it's better for both of us if we stop to see each other right now. I don't want you to hate me in the future," she explained bluntly.

"Oh, I see," he responded, looking like someone that just got punched in the stomach. "I honestly don't know what to say to that."

"Then, don't say anything. I'm really sorry, Evan. Please, forgive me," Cat pleaded, feeling ridiculous because her eyes were watering.

"Usually, I'm the one throwing this speech. I never realized how unpleasant is to be the one hearing it," he murmured, looking at his feet. "I guess I better go now. I trust you would like to go to work on your own car today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think that would be better," she said, trying to be very sweet.

That was so awkward. For a moment, they just stood in the middle of the living room without moving. Evan was the first one to break the silence.

"Is it too much to ask for you to not come to my lab today? I guess I need a time out," he asked somberly, heading to the door and opening it.

"It's not too much. I'll ask Tess to go there if we need you. I'm sorry again," she replied, feeling a pang of pain at the sight of his disappointment.

"Don't be. At least, I tried. I'll see you around, Chandler," Evan said before closing the door behind him.

As soon as she heard the door's click, Cat let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. She wasn't crying just for Evan, but for herself. People certainly would say that she should have ignored her own morals and just accepted his love, settling for the next best thing. Cat never wanted that kind of life, though.

She always thought that life wasn't worth living if one couldn't do it in its plenitude. She would never be able to settle for someone she wasn't in love with, living a half life, loving a half love. Especially after Vincent, after knowing what it felt like having your soul complete. Nothing would ever compare with what she felt for him, therefore, nothing would fit her anymore.

Drying her tears, she went to wash her face and grab her car's keys, mentally preparing herself to the torrent of questions she was sure Tess would have when she found out about their break up. She was already in her car when her cell rang with a text message tone. Grabbing it absently, thinking it was work, she paralyzed when she saw the sender's name in the phone's screen. It was JT.

"_Warehouse. 6 pm. Need to talk,"_ said the message.

**A/N: I don't have much to say today, guys. This winter break is driving me crazy. I'm watching the old episodes all over again, but I'm feeling kind of abandoned. **

**It's a good thing that Fan has such good writers willing to fulfill the void until January, 24. **

**As for my story, I really liked this chapter, do you agree? Also, I'm not really sure if I should write the letters Vincent left for JT and Cat or if I just make them talk about it. What do you think I should do?**

**Review, please. **

**See ya!**


	5. Ghosts of the Past - Part One

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**Ghosts of the Past – Part One **

Cat glanced once again at the clock, noticing that only ten minutes had passed since the last time she checked on it and sighing. The clock seemed determinate to not move, as if it was mocking her. It didn't matter that she had already filled all the things that had and hadn't to be filled, that she had went to a crime scene and interviewed at least four people about the murder of a sixty three year old woman that happened in her own apartment searching for leads or that lunch had been millions of years ago; the day simply didn't end.

Try as she might, she just couldn't avoid to feel her stomach twisting every time she looked at the clock, both wishing and dreading for her shift to end so she could meet JT. Every once in a while she took her phone out of her pocket to check if there was any new messages from him; only she wasn't quite sure if she was looking for a sudden cancellation from his part or more information about what he wanted to talk to her, specifically some hint of Vincent's part on the enigmatic meeting. Maybe JT's roommate regretted having chased her away so harshly and wanted to apologize, but hadn't wanted to disturb her by calling. Maybe they had figured out what was happening to him, fixed it and wanted to tell her the good news. Or maybe he just missed her as much as she missed him.

Her heart jumped every time that thought crossed her mind. As much as she berated herself for being foolish hopeful, it was impossible to stop her mind to create wonderful scenarios. The most persistent one was that she would enter the old warehouse and he would instantly take her in his powerful, strong arms in a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair, apologizing and telling her that everything was okay, that they wouldn't have to be away from each other never more.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts for the millionth time, she heard Tess' demanding voice saying, "I just can't understand! In a minute you're totally into Evan and the next one you break up with him. He's super depressed, locked up in his lab, avoiding to even mention your name, by the way."

"Tess, I'm going to tell you the same thing I said to Heather yesterday. I didn't break up with Evan because he was never my boyfriend. Yes, we went to a couple of dates, but I never really considered him as a potential boyfriend. You created this hot affair in your head based in meaningless flirting. I admit, it's my fault. I shouldn't have done that, but I wasn't trying to pursuit anything with it. I'm sorry to burst your bubble," Cat explained, feeling extremely tired for having to say that once again.

"Whatever. I just think you're making a mistake," her partner admonished.

"Mistake or not, it's not only my life, Tess. I won't hold Evan to a thing I know isn't real. Besides, he has plenty of women throwing themselves on him. He won't take too long to move on," the shorter woman stated, finishing the conversation.

She really didn't think she own explanations about her personal life to Tess, even if she was a dear friend. Her partner didn't seem to like her answer, but ended up accepting the fact that Cat had always told her the truth when she said that she didn't like Evan like that, but that didn't stop her to tell Cat she was being stubborn and dumb for throwing a man like Evan through the window. Cat only sighed tiredly, refusing to take the bait and continue discussing that useless subject; her decision was made and she wouldn't go back. Evan Marks wasn't the right man for her and that was final.

At last, her shift ended and, despite being relieved that she was free to meet them, she felt her chest heavy with worry. Cat didn't know what to expect and a part of her was very afraid. She really hadn't accepted to have Vincent pulled out of her life so suddenly. She had to fight for a place in his life in the beginning and it hadn't been easy; he wanted her to stay away, just like he was trying to do again. That was very different from the first time they met, though. The months they spent together had created a bond, a story. And everybody knew that not all stories had happy endings.

Her conjectures were put aside, though, because she had arrived at the warehouse. The place seemed even more oppressive than the first time she entered it. Maybe it was the tension due their last talk, but she felt something in the air, like a bad vibe. She shook the feeling out, rolling her shoulders and moving her head side to side, trying to relax, before knocking at the door.

"Hey, Cat!" JT said, opening the door almost immediately; it was like he was just waiting for her to knock. He had an awkward smile on his face. "Come in."

"Thanks, JT," she responded, feeling utterly embarrassed.

She involuntarily glanced at the cage in the opposite wall, as if her eyes had been pulled by some invisible magnet in its direction. She let out a sigh of relieve at seeing it empty, the squeezing feeling oppressing her heart getting a little lighter. Though Vincent was nowhere to be seen, at least she knew he wasn't crudely confined like an animal in that thing anymore.

"He's not here," JT whispered almost inaudibly.

His statement shook her out of the trance she was in and she realized that her eyes were wondering at the warehouse like they had a will of them own, unconsciously looking for the man she loved. That simple thought made her knees go weak; the realization that she loved him still. It didn't matter if he didn't want her, if he was loosing control of his beast self or if he would be considered a criminal if the world ever found out about him. He was the man she loved. That wouldn't change.

"What do you mean, he's not here? I know he likes to walk around at night, but I thought he wasn't leaving the building," she said, confused. Then, she had a happy thought, lighting up in a blink. "Did you guys figure out what happened? Is he cured?"

JT felt even worse than before, seeing the happy smile opening Cat's somber expression. He wished to be any place else again.

"No, Cat, we didn't figure out. Vincent... He just... He's...," he stuttered, unable to break her heart even more.

An alarm sounded in her head, a burning sensation took over her body, blocking her ears, making his voice sound muffled. Her hands started to shake and little drops of sweat formed in her forehead.

"What, JT? What happened? Just tell me," she asked trembling.

"He left, Cat. When I got home from work yesterday, there was only two letters over his bed for you and me. We've been working on his problem since the last time you came here and nothing seemed to work. You can't imagine how depressed he was. He finally gave up and said that he's not coming back," the professor explained thinking that she should know what they went through; after all, it didn't matter anymore.

"What do you mean 'he gave up'?" she demanded astonished.

"Here, that'll probably explain it," he said, giving her a letter she hadn't noticed he was holding.

The brunette woman took it with shacking hands, opening it rapidly, not caring about ripping the envelop. Seeing Vincent's handwriting covering the pages made her head buzz and she sat at the table near them before reading, fearing to loose her balance.

"_Catherine, _

_I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, but it's for the best. I know you and JT would try to stop me, therefore I had to leave my farewell through these letters and I'm sorry for doing something so cold. _

_We tried to figure out what's happening to me, but nothing seems to work and I can't risk to be around you both anymore. It's just too dangerous. _

_I really appreciated everything you had done for me and I'm grateful for your friendship. After all these years in hiding, making a new friend was a gift I never expected to receive. At some point, I think you started to get confused about our relationship, though, and I'm really ashamed to admit that I didn't try to deny it because I didn't want you to leave. I thought that you would understand with time. _

_Unfortunately, time is something that we don't have anymore so I have to be honest and tell you that I never saw you as more than a friend. I never told you about Alex, my ex-fiancée, because it was something really painful to talk about, but I never forgot her. It's impossible for me to love anybody else. _

_I'm so sorry for not being there to save your mother in time nine years ago. I wish things were different for you because, unlike me, you have the chance to live a normal life and I feel like your mother's death is holding you back. Don't do that, Catherine. I'm sure there was nothing else your mom wished than for you to be happy. As am I._

_What I'm trying to say is that you're one of the kindest persons I ever met and that I wish you all the best in your life. I wish you live it at its fullest, maybe one day even marry and have beautiful children, a white fenced house and all that. _

_Enjoy your time with Heather, your father and even your step-something, as you like to call her. You're blessed to have them in your life. I know that because I can't even visit my family's tumulus. And don't worry about it, I'm not planning on doing it. I'll pay my respects in another way._

_Take care of yourself and, if you have time and patience, try to check on JT from time to time; he'll need someone now that I'm not there. He'll never admit it, but he sees you like a sister, the same way he saw me like a brother. _

_Be sure that I'll be your friend forever. _

_Goodbye. _

_Vincent."_

Tears were running freely across Cat's cheeks by the time she finished reading the letter. She felt like the world had crumbled down around her and she was hanging above an endless abyss of pain. Vincent left and he wouldn't come back; he had a reason to never come back. He wanted to protect his two only friends from himself.

"He never loved me," the petite woman murmured, broken.

"What?!" JT exclaimed, took by surprise.

"I never knew Vincent had a fiancée," she commented, trying to suppress her sobs.

"Alex? Yeah, before he joined the Army. Why are you bringing her up now?" the slightly bald man asked, but realization dawned on him as soon as his mouth closed. "Oh, man! This is seriously mess up! Okay, I have something to show you. Don't move, all right? I'll be back in a second."

The female detective watched, seating very still, as JT ran towards his bedroom. Even if he hadn't ordered her to remain there, she didn't think she would have enough strength to move. She felt numb, drained, exhausted. She put her arms over the table and leaned her head over them, crying loudly, letting her despair be washed up by her salty tears.

The professor didn't take long to return, as promised, bringing another letter with him. He took a seat in front of her, agitated from the run, breathing deeply. She leaned back in the chair, looking at him with red eyes, suddenly feeling a wave of tenderness towards him. Poor JT, having to deal with the mess of her broken heart. He was the one that tried to keep them apart from day one, maybe foreseeing all of that. And despite all his sarcasm and bickering, he opened a small space in his heart for her, according to Vincent.

Looking straight at her eyes, he said, "First of all, I don't know what your letter says, but since you mentioned Alex and said that he didn't love you, I assume that Vincent was stupid enough to try and make you think he still loves her."

"He does, JT. I should have know; Vincent was too much of a gentleman to reject me. He thought that I would eventually figure out that he didn't think of me as more than a friend. He specifically said that in his letter," Cat whispered, feeling more and more tired at each passing minute.

"No, he doesn't. He loves you," JT affirmed, raising his hand to interrupt her from protesting. "Just hear me out, okay? I know Vincent since third grade and I was there through every single one of his previous girlfriends, which, surprisingly for a good looking guy like him, you can count in one hand. I can assure you that he never was so into a girl like he's into you and I can also tell you that Alex was a mistake."

"How could it be a mistake, if he got engaged to her? If he still misses her after all this time?" the girl asked defeated.

"Cat, you know Vincent. He's just too damn naïve for his own good sometimes. He was fresh starting to work at the hospital when they met. She was beautiful, competent and smart enough to make him take his eyes from the patients' charts and look at her. They dated for a few months and she started complaining about the lack of progress in their relationship. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't some Machiavellian evil bitch, but she kind of trapped him into taking the next step. I never thought that she was the right girl for him, but I have to admit that she was very sweet with him and his family. Long story short, when his brothers died in the Towers, he revalued his life and Alex was one of the things that he wasn't doing right so he broke up with her. Get it? He broke up with her long before he enlisted, long before Muirfield and all this shit in his life."

"That doesn't make any sense, JT. Maybe he realized that he was wrong when he broke up with her when he came back, he just didn't admit it for you. Otherwise, why would he tell me that he still loves her if he has feelings for me?" Cat argued, unconvinced.

"Because he wanted you to forget about him. He always felt guilty for dragging you into the mess of his life. He probably thought that it would be easier for you to move on if you believe that he doesn't love you," he explained.

"How can you be so sure about this, JT? It sounds too cruel to be Vincent," she replied, anguished.

"Again, I know the guy since third grade. I think it's time for you to read my letter. It'll help you understand," the professor said, handing her the envelop.

_To be continued..._

**A/N: Guys, I really don't know how this story is affecting you so far. I see a lot of hits in the counter, but there's so little reviews that I'm suspecting you don't like it, which is sad. **

**I'm sorry, but I had to split this chapter in two, otherwise it would be too long. **

**Vincent's letter was a particularly difficult thing to do, but I'm satisfied with the result. **

**What do you think? Leave your thoughts in a review, okay? **

**See ya!**


	6. Ghosts of the Past - Part Two

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**Ghosts of the Past – Part Two **

The envelop sat over the table between them like a ghost hanging around the corner, ready to spook whoever dared to enter its domains. Cat just couldn't will herself to take it; her letter had been painful enough. Hell, her whole week had been painful enough; she didn't need any other heart wrecking revelation.

"That's probably private," she whispered, somehow sounding like a scared little girl.

"Very private. I'm giving you permission to read it, though. Since the letter is mine, I have the right to show it to whoever I want. And if he didn't want you to know about it, then he should have stick around to prevent me to hand it to you. The way I see it, he had it coming," JT said in that way of his, both logical and conflictingly passionate.

"I'm the one that don't want to read it, JT. I don't need any further explanation on Vincent's behavior because it all makes sense now. He pushed me away very firmly when I first started looking for him, he really didn't want me around and he made it graphically clear. I was the one that kept pursuing him. Thinking back, I even kind of stalked him until he finally caved. You know that, you were there. You both even did that pantomime, taking all his things out of here to pretend he left. You said yourself that 'he wasn't really that into me'. He never touched me, unless to take me out of harms ways, never insinuate anything. Hell, he even called me by my full name, but I was dumb enough to think it was chivalrous. I'm an idiot!" the girl murmured, her sweet, sad tone almost inaudible.

JT sighed heavily. He knew nothing she was saying was true, he knew that Vincent _was being_ chivalrous, that he called her by her full name because even her name was precious to him, but his friend took off, leaving only a cruel letter behind and Cat wouldn't believe him if she didn't read his letter, though he couldn't force her to do it.

It shouldn't matter to him, especially because there was no point on making Cat understand Vincent's true feelings if they didn't know where he was and he claimed that he would never come back. What good would come out of it, if they would never be together? But he just couldn't let go. Whether it was for his deep sense of justice – the same one that made him shelter Vincent when he came back from Afghanistan – or it was just for the way her beautiful eyes looked so sad when they were wet and red like that, he didn't know. It just felt extremely wrong to let her believe that she wasn't loved the way he knew Vincent did: with all his heart.

"So, this is the way you want to live the rest of your life? Not really knowing?" he asked, throwing the last of his cards.

"Even if you're right, which I truly believe you're not, he made it very clear that he didn't want me in his life anymore," Cat pointed timidly.

"Well, he already pulled himself out of our lives. It won't hurt to know the truth," the professor answered, shrugging.

She looked at him for a long time, the silence heaving around them, while she tried to gather her thoughts and emotions. JT sounded so sure... Did she wanted to look back one day and regret not having read the letter? Being the strong woman she was, the answer was obvious, but she also was a girl with a frail heart that feared that piece of paper fervently.

Slowly, she reached for the letter because, ultimately, her fear made the decision for her; she decided nine years ago that she wouldn't live her life in fear. She wouldn't break her promise to herself. Her resolve didn't change the fact that the letter seemed to weight a hundred pounds due to the difficulty she had to pick it up and open it, though. Finally, the sheets covered with the ex-soldier's handwriting were in her hands and there was no turning back.

"_JT,_

_I know what you're thinking right now, but you don't have to worry, nothing happened to me. At least, nothing more than what you already know. _

_I made a decision and I'm quite aware that it's the coward one, but I can't take it anymore. It's pretty obvious that we're not making any progress on finding a cure to my condition and it's just getting worse. I tried all this time to be positive and act like a man, but I knew I would have to face the true at some point and this day had come. So, the best thing for all of us is for me to just go away. I won't come back. _

_It's just a theory, one that I didn't share with you for obvious reasons, but I think that the mutation on my DNA isn't only irreversible, it's also progressive. And I can't live with the fact that someday I won't have any control over my actions, I can't live knowing that your life is in danger; I never did. Now it isn't only the danger of being murder by a powerful agency, it's me threatening your life and we both know that, when the time comes, you won't have the heart to do what is necessary to protect yourself. Nor will Catherine. You always complain about how stubborn she is, but you share her fierceness, my friend. I just wish I had said that when I was still around; the look on your face reading this must be priceless. _

_Since I brought it up, I have to ask you to not blame her for my decision. My Catherine had been through enough, she doesn't need you releasing the gods' wrath over her. She might look tough, but her mother's death left a wound in her soul that I don't know if can be healed, much like the wound my brothers' death left on mine. Maybe that's why we became so close; we know how much it hurts to have someone we love taken away so abruptly. So, please, be careful with her. Consider this my last wish. _

_She doesn't need to go through all this, too. She doesn't need to know that I can't live without her, that since she left one week ago, life is meaningless. _

_It's pointless trying to hide this from you because you know me well enough to have guessed it by yourself a long time ago. In fact, I think you knew I loved her even before I did. You tried to warn me, but it was already too late, JT; my fate was sealed nine years ago when I first saw her. _

_I don't regret a single moment I had by her side, though. She's the only good thing that came out of all the bad decisions I made in my life. She brought happiness to my life when I thought I didn't deserve it anymore. She even relieved me from my guilt towards Alex. Before meeting Catherine, I kept wondering if I made the right decision, if I wasn't blinded by pain when I broke up with her, if I hadn't messed up our life together in a rushed moment. I'm at peace now, knowing that I never truly loved her. Now I understand what true love is. _

_I just wish I had been stronger and really had pushed Catherine away before we ended up where we are today. Due to my stupidity, she's suffering greatly and the only thing I can do is ending our relationship once and for all. Be there for my Catherine if she breaks, please? Don't hide from her that you care about her, too, okay? She'll need someone and you're the only one she can share this with. _

_Don't try and look for me, JT. _

_Have a wonderful life. I hope you and Sarah work out; she seems like a great girl and you deserve one. Unfortunately, I won't be there to be your best man. _

_For a long time, I was lost in my grief for my brothers, failing to notice that life gave me another one in you and I never thanked you for that. _

_So thank you. _

_Vincent." _

"My Catherine?" the girl whispered, unable to process all that it was written in JT's letter.

"Yeah..." JT confirmed in a tired tone. "I'm pretty sure a guy doesn't refer to a girl on those terms if he isn't in love. I know I don't."

"But... but..." Cat stuttered; she couldn't form words to express what she was feeling.

"Yeah," the man repeated, as if that single word explained it all.

They fell silent. There was nothing to be said while she tried to make sense of all that madness. Simple phrases twirled around her head in flashes. He loved her as much as she loved him. He pushed her away and took off to never come back. He was alone in the world. He was trying to protect the only two people left in his life from himself. He was broken and desperate. He needed her. She needed him. Suddenly, the most alarming thought crossed her mind and she gasped.

"He's going to kill himself," she yelled, startling JT.

"What? No, no way. He wouldn't do that," her friend answered, wide eyed.

"He said that he can't take it anymore, JT. And he asked me to take care of you and for you to take care of me. Those are goodbye letters, JT. He's going to do it. Oh, God!" she exclaimed, barely breathing.

"No. No. He's not a coward, Cat. He won't do that. I know Vincent," JT affirmed, stubbornly.

"We have to find him, JT! I can't lose him!" the woman demanded, almost yelling.

"How, Cat? New York's huge! We don't even know if he's still in the city. Almost a day passed by since I found the letters. He can be in another state by now," the professor reasoned with her.

"I... I don't know. It's... We have to think, JT. Help me, please," she begged, letting another round of tears fall from her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Cat. It's going to be okay, you hear me? He's not killing himself, okay?" the man said, trying to sooth her. "Just breath, okay?

She nodded, vehemently, taking deep breaths, trying to reign the buzzing fear that was squeezing her brain, obstructing her rational thoughts.

"So let's think," JT asked after seeing that she was regaining control over her emotions. "Where does it go a person supposedly dead after leaving the only people he cares about?"

"I have no idea," she answered.

They tried to come up with everything possible to track him down. Cat was frantic, revising every single moment she had with him in her memory, searching for some tip. Something was nagging the back of her mind, telling her that the answer was close, but she couldn't find it. She looked at JT again, searching for anything that could help her on the face of the man Vincent considered as a brother. At that thought, a bell sounded in her mind.

A brother. Vincent's brothers.

"I know where he is," Cat affirmed, gathering her bag and car keys. "Let's go."

**A/N: I want to thank you guys so much! I really was feeling down with the lack of reviews, but you surprised me with the amount of response you gave me after the last chapter. You guys are great! **

**Again, writing Vincent's letter was so difficulty, maybe because I love him so much and want to stay true to the character. I think I managed to do so, but barely. Even so, I almost cried at the end of it. That's how lame I am and how much I love this show. **

**What do you think? Please, leave me reviews, I really need reassurance.**

**See ya! :)**


	7. Dead Man Walking

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

**Dead Man Walking**

Walking had never been so difficult. How could someone suddenly become so conscious of such a basic bodily function? To essentially have to think about a movement so it could be done, especially when said body was in such perfect conditions? But that was exactly what Vincent was doing at that moment, commanding his legs to move, forcing one in front of the other, yet feeling them heavy like he had just ran a marathon.

He knew why something so ordinary like that suddenly became so challenging. His heart was at war with his mind and his body. It was an impossible task to walk out of the dusty warehouse that he called home for the past nine years. He had to remind himself of why he was doing it, why it was so important to leave everything he still had – most importantly, the only two people he still had – behind at each step.

Abandoning them at that moment was more difficult than the time he left his parents behind to join the Army, to fight in a war purely out of anger, pain and vengeance. At that time, he truly believed that one day he would come back to them. That, ultimately, never happened. Back then there was an annoying tingling in the back of his mind, trying to warn him of how misguided he was to join a cause for the wrong reasons, but he was deafened by his pain to actually listen.

By the time he finally made it back home, his father had already passed away – perhaps from heartbreak – and he couldn't dream of contacting his mother, fearing putting her in danger and getting caught. Still, when he left, he had hope. There was no hope anymore; that last departure would be permanent and irrevocable. There was too much at risk, too much to lose.

Leaving the warehouse was difficult not only because it meant leaving his life behind yet again, but because he did not know where he was heading to. He had a pale notion of what was the best solution, but he hadn't really thought it through. To be honest, he had no idea what to do with the rest of his life. He just knew that stalling his departure would only hurt everyone even more.

His mind was full of dreadful thoughts, trying to come up with the best possible plan for his future, knowing that he would live it alone. He really did not pay attention to where he was going, realizing too late that he was taking a very familiar path, a route that he knew like the back of his hand, a route that was permanently engraved in his heart. He had grown so used to going that way over the years that he did not have to think about it.

The routine was the reason that made him suddenly caught himself staring at Catherine's windows from the nearest rooftop.

He knew he shouldn't be there, but it was impossible fighting against the powerful attraction that brought him to that place. After that night, he would never see her again, thus why not indulge himself with a little bit of happiness of just seeing her beautiful form one last time, of hearing her voice while she talked with her beloved sister about trivial things. He had observed Heather over the years so he deduced that the conversation would more likely revolve around guys. The thought made an indulgent smile appear on his lips.

However, the night's topic was completely different. Heather seemed upset with Catherine's strange behavior, complaining about how she was constantly spacing out on her, how she took a habit of staring at the fire escape for hours without saying a word. Vincent felt his heart constrict with guilt, knowing exactly what she had been waiting to find there. He couldn't avoid felling a distorted happiness over finding out that their separation had also affected her, though. He was disgusted by his selfishness, but knowing that Catherine cared about him and that he wasn't alone in his feelings – maybe not as deep, but still important – made his burden a little more bearable. That knowledge would warm him up during his future cold and lonely nights.

As he listened to their conversation, he noticed that Heather was becoming more and more frustrated with her sister's lame excuses and avoidance techniques. The younger sister was as perceptive and fierce as his Catherine, he had to give her that. For the first time he saw Heather as someone who shared Catherine's same principles, he really saw the young woman as part of her family.

He had to admit that what she was describing was, indeed, worrisome. His Catherine was neglecting her health, barely eating, not talking and spending too much time in bed, claiming to be tired all the time.

"...and I'm not even counting the fact that you're not acting like someone who just got a hot new boyfriend! Hot, Cat! With a British accent!" the younger sister finished her ardent speech.

Heather's last comment got his full attention. A pain so intense that made it hard to breath took over his whole body. He had been replaced and by no other than the same guy who made him doubt about her feelings in first place, Evan! How pathetic was he, thinking that she shared his same deep feelings. It did not take her but a week to forget about him.

Why didn't she hook up with Evan earlier? They worked together and were friends for years. Why hadn't she dated him before? Why did she make Vincent a prisoner of her charm, her sweet smile, if she was just waiting for the British douche to make his move? Why chase after the war veteran so determinately, risking her life every time that she slid under the warehouse's fence, demanding a place in his life, if she never had any feelings for him?

The answer was obvious. Her mother. She was just trying to figure out the truth about what happened nine years ago. She probably did not even consider the effect she had on him.

He was an idiot. Of course, she did not feel the same. Catherine was human, normal, healthy and free. She was a Beauty and she could have any man she wanted. Why would she want to tie her life to a Beast like him? Only a stupid, desperate man like him would believe in such a fairy tale.

"...Evan isn't my boyfriend; we only went on a couple of dates. You can barely count that as dating," she argued, taking him out of his dark musings.

The ex-soldier did not understand what was happening. Heather was convinced they were dating, but Catherine denied it, by firmly talking to her in an exasperated, harsh tone. He did not remember hearing the older woman ever address her sister like that before; it seemed like she was barely restraining herself to have a real fight with Heather. That was very uncharacteristic of her, he though, astonished.

The younger sister insisted, telling her that Evan behaved like a boyfriend and demanded a real answer. But she did not expect that the female detective hadn't any doubt about her relationship with the British guy, affirming that she would talk to him and clarify things (meaning that she was planning on breaking up with him), which confused and shocked Vincent even more.

What was really happening to Catherine? He had never seen her so unsure, so out of her right mind. It was as if she suddenly lost her capacity to think straight, as if she was just reacting to what the world around threw her way, not really taking care of herself or measuring how her actions affected the people in her life. She wasn't like that. Sure, she acted like that when they first started to interact, but that was because she was obsessed by her need to learn the answers regarding her mother's death.

Her sister's shock to her decision of breaking up with Evan had an instant reaction on her and she changed her tense tone, sounding more like herself again when she whispered, "I'm not in love with him."

Heather's voice also changed, assuming a mature trait that he did not know she possessed.

"Only someone in love would be that sure about not being in love with a guy like Evan," the short haired girl said.

"You're probably right," was Catherine's reply.

Vincent's heart stopped. In fact, he felt like the whole world had just stopped. He couldn't believe in what he just heard. He felt dizzy and he was torn between the sudden urge to run away and go as far as he could so not to listen to their intimate conversation – he was taken by an irrational will to never know the true meaning of her words – and his body's unexpected incapacity to function properly. He simply couldn't move his legs .

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't want me. I just started dating Evan because he rejected me, which is a stupid thing to do, I know, believe me. I just wasn't thinking straight," the older woman explained as Heather demanded details loudly.

A lone tear rolled down his scarred cheek at her confession. She loved him as much as he loved her! She was depressed and that was why she wasn't acting like herself. She thought that he rejected her, which he admitted he had stupidly done. There were no words to describe how low and small he felt to have done that to her because he was dumb enough to think that pushing her away was the best thing for her.

As a consequence of his "wise" decision, his Catherine was currently laying down on her bed facing the ceiling with wide, insomniac eyes, after telling her sister, once again, that she was really tired. You did not have to be a trained psychologist to read the sadness on her face and to figure out how troubled she truly was.

Vincent could almost envision her internal conflict, debating what to say to Evan. Being that she was a kind person, he knew that thinking about hurting one of her closest friends would be very difficult for her. She tossed and turned for hours, getting up for water several times. Eventually, fatigue won and she fell into a restless asleep, clearly hunted by nightmares. At some point during her unquiet slumber, she called Vincent's name, crying quietly like a scared child.

Seeing her cry and call for him was something he just couldn't tolerate, even if it was only due to a bad dream. Before he had time to think about the consequences, his body was already in motion, jumping as quietly as a cat to the fire escape next to her window and opening it silently, for once grateful for the changes the experiment had done to his body. While he planned to observe her only from afar one last time, he caught himself kneeling down next to her head and reaching out to caress her gorgeous dark brown hair, which felt like velvet silk under his touch. Amazingly, she relaxed after a few minutes and her breath slowed, indicating she was in profound sleep. He feared for a moment that his Catherine would wake up, forcing him to leave her side. But she just snugged deeper into his hand, sighing. He was glad to know that she would be able to rest a little.

He planned to stay with her only for a few minutes, just to ensure that she wouldn't have another nightmare, but he couldn't tear himself away from her. Her peaceful face was hypnotizing and the next thing he knew, daylight was spreading its pale luminosity through the window. He did not regret spending the night admiring her sweet beauty; it felt like a proper farewell for him. His only regret was seeing her pain. He sighed and rose from his spot, placing a tender, barely-there kiss on her forehead and hoping that, one day, she could find happiness again.

Simultaneously as he exited and closed the window so he could observe her getting ready for work from the nearest rooftop, her alarm clock buzzed, announcing the beginning of her day. Evan arrived at her door half an hour later, appearing very comfortable in his new role in her life.

A white, hot and blinding rage shook Vincent's body when he saw the obnoxious blond man leaning down to kiss her. His jealousy was somewhat placated when she turned her head, avoiding the kiss. It ended up landing on her cheek instead. A bitter smile lifted Vincent's lips. It was selfish and petty of him to be so furious, so jealous of her and he berated himself firmly for it, but he couldn't avoid it and decided that he wouldn't try to do so. Just for that day he would allow himself to be wicked enough to be happy that Evan wouldn't have his Catherine. His time was running out and he wanted to savor in the knowledge that she did not want anyone, but him. He was at ease.

It was a hard conversation and Vincent could tell how deeply sorry his Catherine was about hurting her friend like that. She really believed that it would be best if she was honest with Evan and ended whatever it was that was happening between them before the forensic finally realized that she was just not that into him. Just when Vincent thought that she couldn't make him love her more, she showed how altruistic and kind her heart was and his heart swelled with pride. She was truly amazing.

If Vincent were a noble man, he would feel bad for his rival, seeing his obviously broken form disappearing the street's corner down to where he parked his car. However, Vincent wasn't noble, he was a beast and a man in love, there was no room for pity in his heart in that moment.

To hear his love cry again actually caused him physical pain. He desperately wanted to reach for her, to wipe away her tears, to tell her that everything would be okay while he held her close, but that was just a naïve dream and he knew better.

The war veteran followed the woman he loved throughout the city for the rest of the day. He watched her walking with the same confident pace, yet somehow filled with sorrow, talking to her co-workers without really engaging in conversation, avoiding the constant questioning about her bad mood from her partner, noticing that she kept glancing at clocks and checking her phone constantly.

Eventually, her shift was over and Vincent knew he would have to let her go, to walk away, alone to the rest of his life. She entered her car and took a well known path. JT had probably contacted her to deliver his letter to her and she was heading down to the warehouse. That was when he stopped following her; if he walked back there, he did not know if he would have the strength to walk out of the warehouse's perimeter again.

His time around his Catherine and JT had ended. It was time to say his last goodbyes, leaving his life behind... yet again... Forever.

**A/N: I'm so happy that BatB won the PCA, guys! When I found out I screamed like a mad girl. I think it's a great way to promote the show and get us a second season. **

**I don't really know if it helps, but there's a lot of beasties out there trying to help the show so I'm going to do my part. There's this petition that I already signed and you could sign it, too, if you think it's relevant to help the show. They need at least 5.000 signatures and the number is lower 4.000 right now. Unfortunately, FF doesn't allow us to put links here so I'll try to trick it.**

**Https**

**:**

**/**

**www**

**.**

**change**

**.**

**org**

**/**

**petitions**

**/**

**the**

**cw**

**television**

**network**

**get**

**beauty**

**and**

**the**

**beast**

**a**

**second**

**season**

**?**

**utm**

**_campaign**

**acti on_box**

**utm_medium**

**twitter&utm_source**

**share_petition**

**Also, people from Beauty and the Beast Save Each Other Fan Forum are planning to make a campaign to help CW understand how much the fans want a second season and I liked the idea. Take a look on their page for more info, okay?**

**I have to thank the lovely lady J M Holm for kindly reviewing the text for me and help me with grammar issues! Janie, you had been great!**

**So this chapter is really just a fill up. I think it's important to know that Vincent didn't just walked out on Cat without looking back. It would be too cold to be our beloved Beast. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Maybe leave a review?**

**See ya!**


	8. Waterfalls

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction made for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way.**

_**Kleenex ready, people?**_

**Waterfalls **

The artificial lights illuminating the plaza provided a brilliant spectacle by themselves. The dark and chilly night bestowed a kind of solemnity to the place that was strangely fitting. Vincent hadn't returned to that place since _it_ happened. He just couldn't think about looking at those empty spaces. If he did, he would surely go insane, picturing all the agony, terror and pain _they_ must have felt. But it was time to close that last chapter of his past life. He needed to do what he had never been strong enough to do, before that moment.

He needed to say goodbye to his brothers.

He knew very well that visiting his family's graves would be a good way to get caught, even after all that time had passed. So we went to the next best place available.

The 9/11 Twin Tower Memorial'sreflecting pools stood proud and immobile. Its beautiful tears constantly poring, reflecting the pain of an entire nation. Those were the same tears Vincent never allowed himself to shed. Back then, he was too consumed with his anger, his parents despair and the vision and painful reminder of the empty chairs at the dinner table during their traditional Sunday lunches. Later it was just easier to ignore the burning sensation behind his eyelashes than to remember why they were burning.

For a while, he just stood there, taking in the sight of the meaningful and sorrowful construction and observing people walk around. Some of them would touch its surface, some others would just hold their companions while watching and contemplating it from afar. It was unavoidable to feel more alone than ever when witnessing how "normal people" could still take comfort in their loved ones' arms while he would have to settle for a life away from the rest of the world.

But, for once, he didn't let his jealous or his need speak louder than his reason. He knew he would have a lot of time to brood about his loneliness in the future. It wasn't the right time to think about those things. Today was the time to honor his brothers. Therefore, he left his hiding spot under the nearest trees' shadows and took the final steps towards the memorial.

He had a notion of where to look for their names; he had researched it. But there were a lot of names and the task could take hours and wasting too much time there would be a detrimental risk. Although he would take that kind of risk, he wasn't about to throw his life away by handing himself with open arms to Muirfield. He had to be careful.

He looked rapidly over the names printed on the copper wall in front of him, but something told him that his brother's names weren't there. His eyes were attracted to the opposite wall, as if an invisible force was pulling him there. It wouldn't hurt to check it out. He let his "intuition" guide him to a particular spot to his right. Finding their names side by side became amazingly easy.

Slowly, almost reverently, he reached out to touch the letters carved over the cold copper panels, feeling his throat tightening. An inexplicable emotion washed over him. There was anger, frustration and sorrow, but also relieve. There was longing, but also peace. Above all, there was love; immutable, unconditional, eternal and genuine love.

During the past eleven years, he never once stopped to sense and experience that love. He had been so consumed with his need to forget about the pain of losing his brothers that he forgot about them. Only when he touched and felt the soft cavities of their printed names did he fully understand that he had spent all that time not loving his goofy, annoying, irritating and loyal brothers. And how terribly he missed them.

Those two people shared everything with him. They shared friendship, devotion, blood, physical features, home and, most importantly, family. They were both his competition and his inspiration. They were the ones that would always have his back no matter what. There were first and foremost brothers!

The cold material under his fingers brought back fond memories of his time with his brothers. He smiled while being fighting the tears that stubbornly clouded his vision, remembering that Mike, his older brother, was the first person to say that he would become a doctor. He was only eight years old.

The three brothers climbed trees along with the other neighborhood kids, as they disobeyed their parents rules – "_Yeah, we were kids. We disobeyed our parents. Suited us!"_ he thought, amused – when Brian, his second brother, suddenly fell down from a high branch, breaking his arm. Vincent reacted instantly, taking the broken branch and immobilizing his brother's arm by tying the branch to it with his shirt, something he saw and remembered from TV, while the other kids just stood there with wide eyes, too shocked with the accident to do anything to help.

Meanwhile, Mike was screaming furiously at Paul Jenkens, one of the older kids. Apparently, his younger brother, John, had been somehow responsible for Brian's fall.

"Instead of trying to hit my brother, you should be paying attention to what that little bratty brother of yours is doing, tying your brother's arm with a branch, Keller. Maybe he's trying to rip it off," Paul yelled offensively.

"Yeah? And maybe, when you're at the police station trying to bail John out of the jail in the future, you should remember that Vinnie will be in medical school, Jenkens," Mike yelled back, turning his back at him and taking his younger brothers home to face the fury of their parents.

That memory was all it took for Vincent to finally let the tears flow. For eleven years he refused to think and remember those things, to miss his brothers and their shared misadventures and mischiefs, to find solace in all the little things, good and bad, that made them brothers. Those little things beyond blood that made them love each other sincerely, accepting all their flaws and obsessions, as annoying as they could be.

That realization made him understand yet another thing; that it was really time to move on. He spent nine years hating himself and what he had become, blaming himself for allowing his grief to take over him, transforming him into what he was. But he had failed to notice that what he really hated was his betrayal. Deep down inside him, he knew that he was just paying the prize for it. All that had happened only because he had betrayed himself. He had let his darker side control his actions and decisions, forgetting who he really was, forgetting that he was a healer and not a killer, forgetting to be himself, to just be Vincent Keller, M.D.

Finally understanding that was liberating. He was at peace. At least, he was ready to forgive himself. But it was all too soon to forgive everything. Nonetheless, he would take one step at time... and maybe, one day...

A heavy hand gripped his shoulder, bringing him out of his contemplative moment and he felt something jab his side.

"Well, well, well! Took you long enough, Keller! We were almost giving up keeping one eye on the Memorial. It's good to know that we didn't waste all that money for nothing. It would have been almost criminal in this economy, don't you think?" a masculine voice said close to his ear. "Now, let's not make a scene, shall we? All the good people around here don't have to pay for any stupid moves you might make. Imagine what could happen to them if you force me to start shooting."

"_No, no, no! It can't end like this,"_ Vincent thought, alarmed.

The agent had caught him completely vulnerable. There was no way he would risk running away from him in the middle of that crowded place. If the agent started shooting, people could get killed and Vincent had enough blood on his hands.

"If you're so kind as to follow me, Dr. Keller. I think we have a lot to talk about," the agent said in a commanding tone.

They walked towards the trees, letting the dark shadows cover their tracks. Vincent couldn't tell where they were going.

**A/N: Okay, that was one depressing chapter to write. I strongly recommend to not research on the 9/11 Memorial while listening to Radiohead. I actually had to stop doing it because I couldn't see through my tears. **

**Yeah, stupid, I know, since I didn't know any of the people that died there or anything, but that whole thing was so shocking and sad that I just can avoid it. **

**There are no words to express my sorrow for all those families and friends that lost someone that day. I just hope the world had learned a little more about preserving human life – or any kind of life, for that matter – after that tragic day. If I wrote something inaccurate or offensive in any form, please, forgive me. It's not my intention to disrespect the victims or their families. **

**I know the chapter is short, but it would be way too long with all the things that have to happen now so I'll just take baby steps. **

**Also, they never really told us Vincent's brothers names so I just invented them for another fic and I'm sticking with it. His father's name was Michael so it makes sense that the oldest son shared his name and I just like the name I gave for the second one. So, bare with me, okay?**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

**A little word of encouragement? Thanks!**

**See ya!**


	9. Answered Wishes

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. Or Once Upon a Time, for that matter.**

**Answered wishes**

"_Please, God, let me be right! Please, please, please..."_ Cat kept chanting in her head while they sped up through New York's crowded streets.

She thought about turning on her car's police lights, but JT argued wisely that it would attract too much attention and the last thing they needed was her precinct asking her if she needed backup. Or worst, cops gathering around to back her up without asking if she needed it. Even though it was past rush hour, the streets were still too full of people and cars to drive as fast as she wished to her destiny.

What if she was wrong?

They could be wasting crucial minutes following an empty lead because she was stuck behind a slow driver. Her patience was wearing thin and she was fighting to hold the steering wheel firmly because her palms were sweaty. Her heart was pounding inside her ribcage, almost on the verge of exploding. When she saw the lights of the 9/11 Twin Towers Memorial projecting to the sky approaching she felt like vomiting. That was it, all or nothing.

They parked in the nearest street close by in a restricted parking area, taking advantage of Catherine's status as a police officer – she could always allege that she was on a duty call – and ran as fast as they could. Luckily, JT knew where Vincent's brothers worked so they went straight to the corresponding pool, saving a lot of time.

"JT, stop!" Cat called, half yelling and grabbing his left arm.

The man stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her with an expression that made it very clear he thought she was crazy.

"We have to be careful. If he's really there and sees us running to him at full speed he can get scared and run away. We would never be able to catch him," she clarified.

"Yes, yes, of course. You're right. So what do we do?" JT asked, looking franticly from side to side.

"Let's walk close to the trees, rounding the pool to see if we can find him. I go North, you go South and we meet again here if we can't find anything. The first one to locate him calls the other, okay?" the brunette woman said.

"Good plan. Okay, see you soon," he agreed, taking off the route she pointed.

Cat hurried down the perimeter, searching franticly and inspecting every tall male in sight in the hopes of finding Vincent, reassuring herself that she knew him well enough to be right. At each unfamiliar face she looked at her heart broke a little. She was already reaching the Memorial's corner when she saw him. She froze on the spot.

"_Oh, God, thank you!"_ she prayed, relief spreading through her body.

He was immobile, his right arm extended, touching the letters carved in the copper panel that she was sure formed his brother's names with a look of sadness and longing on his face that made her heart ache for him. She knew what he was feeling in that moment. Oh, how she knew it!

Picking up her phone, she speed dialed JT's number and he answered on the first ring.

"I found him," she informed in the most quiet tone she could managed.

"Don't move! I'm on my way!" JT barked, hanging out.

She waited impatiently for JT's arrival, never taking her eyes off of him and almost seeing the clock ticking by the minute. He wouldn't stand there for too long so they had to get to him soon and JT was taking forever.

Suddenly, a dark skinned bald man positioned himself behind Vincent and grabbed his right shoulder. Even from that distance, Cat could tell that the man had a heavy grip on him. She noticed, alarmed, his free arm angled to his ribcage. She didn't have to actually see it to know that he was pointing a gun at the ex-doctor. Both men started to walk to the trees outline to the opposite direction were she was at the same time the professor arrived.

"Muirfield!" Cat pointed to the two men. She handed him her car's keys and ordered, "Go get the car fast, JT. I'll follow them and get Vincent."

"Be careful," he warned, taking off full speed to the car's parking spot.

Cat couldn't fight the agent there. There were too many people around and she couldn't risk their lives or the exposure. Consequently, she had to run quietly after them, trying to blend with the trees shadows. It wasn't easy following the two men. The agent was well trained and kept looking around for possible threats, forcing her to hide several times. They were almost at the plaza's edge. She was starting to get desperate; if the agent managed to get out of there with Vincent, it would be impossible to rescue him.

When she saw a desert spot ahead of them, she ran openly with her gun in her hands, trying to surprise the agent by pouncing on him. Vincent took the same opportunity to turn around rapidly. His face was partly in Beast form. Cat collided with the agent's back exactly when Vincent faced him and he took advantage of his momentary instability to grab him by the neck and turn it with inhuman force, killing him instantly. The agent's body went limp in his arms and he supported it up, as if he was just helping him to get on his feet.

"Cat, Vincent! Over here!" JT came running and shouting, the car precariously parked behind him.

When the professor saw they had noticed him, he turned around and ran back to the car.

"Come on, we don't have much time before someone notices what's going on here!" Cat yelled, already running towards JT.

Vincent ran after her, still supporting the agent's body. Leaving it behind was a risk they couldn't afford to take. They would have to dump him later. The short distance to the car seemed endless to Cat. Her heart was pounding like crazy and the adrenaline ran free through her body. She tried to be careful, looking at every possible direction to make sure no one was noticing them, but she was too scared to do it effectively.

At last, the two of them climbed at the car through the doors JT had kept open and they took off. JT never drove so fast in his entire life. Cat and Vincent kept surveillance, making sure no one was following them, but nothing seemed out of normal. Apparently, Muirfield had been confident enough to think that Vincent wouldn't fight back in an open space so more than one agent wouldn't be necessary .

They drove in circles for fifteen minutes. Other than Cat giving directions to JT no one was speaking. The silence was oppressive. When Cat was satisfied enough that everything was okay, she instructed JT for an alternative path to the warehouse, making sure to not take any direct streets to it. It would be impossible to trace their route with the amount of detours she made JT do.

JT had never felt more relaxed seeing the warehouse's walls than at that moment. It felt like someone had just given him a shot of morphine and it was running through his entire body. His fingers seemed numb. Cat jumped out of the car as soon as it parked, her body rigid and her expression closed and composed like only a cop can do.

They entered the building quickly. Vincent put the body inside the trunk of an abandoned car that was parked around the warehouse and joined them inside. JT and Cat were standing near the table; JT looking worriedly at Cat and Cat looking seriously at the ground.

"Catherine, I..." Vincent started to speak, but he didn't have time to finish what he wanted to say.

Cat had advanced him with a furious expression ripping paper pages and throwing them at his face. Then, she slapped his face with all her might.

"How dare you?" she screamed from the top of her lungs. "How dare you throw away everything JT did for you these past nine years? How dare you write me all those lies? How dare you just dump JT and I as if we were disposable garbage, as if our sacrifices and risks meant nothing to you?"

She didn't give him time to react or respond anything before running past him to the door.

"I'm done with you, Keller. I'm going to get this love out of me even if I have to ask Queen Regina herself to rip my heart out of my chest and then, I'm going to be busy 'living my life to its fullest' as you so kindly recommended in your letter. Don't ever come near me again," the girl hissed menacingly, slamming the door loudly behind her.

**A/N: I had never been in NY, I just saw pictures of the Memorial and I'm pretty sure you can't park your car anywhere near the place besides proper parking places. But Cat is a cop so she can do whatever the hell she wants without getting a ticket! hahhahah**

**The only thing I had to say about this chapter is "Yes! Go Cat!". **

**About the chapter's tittle. It's a double meaning. Cat gets her wish to find Vincent and Vincent gets his wish to push her away. Evil, I know, but he deserved it. **

**What do you think? **

**Just so you know I have chapter 10 ready, just waiting for a fair amount of reviews to be posted. hahahhahah (Evil laugh echoing through a long corridor).**

**See ya!**


	10. A Journey into Adulthood

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. Or Once Upon a Time, for that matter. **

**A Journey into Adulthood**

JT and Vincent stood there, in dead silence, listening to Cat running to her car and starting its engine. It was clear by the tires' sound that she hit the accelerator's pedal hard the second the vehicle started.

"Dude, who the hell is Queen Regina?" JT blunted out, absolutely confused.

"It's a TV show, Once upon a time. Catherine loves it," Vincent answered plainly, as if it was explanation enough.

"Still don't know what you're talking about," the professor insisted, a hint of irritation marring his voice.

Vincent let out an exasperated sigh, walking down to JT's side and letting his body fall heavily in the nearest chair.

"It's a TV series based on a mix of fairy tales. Queen Regina is Snow White's evil stepmother. In the show, she has the power to take people's hearts out of their chest so she can control them," he explained better. Then, he whispered sadly, "Catherine's favorite couple is Belle and Rumplestiltskin."

"Who?" the other man questioned, more out of reflex than actual interest.

"It's Beauty and the beast's tale in a twisted way. Honestly, JT, don't you watch TV?" the ex-soldier asked tiredly, trying to close the topic.

"I'm not a twelve year old girl to watch fairy tales on TV. And, let me see if I get this straight. Cat just told you that she prefers to face Snow White's evil stepmother than to see you again?" JT asked in an agitated tone, as if he was blaming Vincent for something.

"Apparently, yes," Vincent agreed, his face distorted in pain.

"It serves you right," the professor said quietly, turning his back on him, ready to leave the room.

"Excuse me?" the war veteran half yelled and there was indignation in his voice.

JT turned back to face him, his expression blank and a look of confidence in his eyes that surprised Vincent; his friend had never said something so hurtful without feeling immediately guilty about it.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?" he responded sarcastically.

"Yes, you can cut the sarcasm and talk to me like an adult," Vincent replied, getting up to level their eyes.

"Oh, exactly the way you did? 'Cause you really show us how much you value our opinion and how adult you are. How do you think I felt when I came back home and found out that you had just given up? You wanna talk about behaving like an adult? How about the million times I tried to talk to you about Cat? How is it to be an adult when you just turned your back on me when I brought the topic up? Or how about the time you 'talked' to Cat and banished her from your life?" JT exploded, all the tension from the last few hours bursting out of his mouth like sharp daggers piercing Vincent's skin.

"It was for your own good!" the ex-doctor weakly tried to argue.

"And who are you to decide what is good for me? Or for Catherine, for that matter? It's so easy for you, Vincent! You're allowed to simply pull yourself out of our lives so you can dwell and drown in self-pity and brood about how the world has done you wrong because you don't have to worry about us. You don't have to lose your mind because you don't know if one of us got caught or not by a powerful agency that firmly intends to kill us. You don't have to wonder if one of us turned completely into an uncontrollable animal hybrid, ready to be taken down by a hunter or something. You don't have to deal with the broken pieces of Cat's heart when she reads an impersonal letter telling her that you never loved her. No! You can just seat back and watch the sunset set over the horizon, knowing that Cat and I would be safe. Yeah, that's a good example of adult behavior!" the professor replied, completely losing the control of his voice's volume and screaming loudly.

"It's not like that," Vincent said timidly, intimidated by JT's rage.

"How is it, then? Tell me!" the glassed man demanded defiantly. "Do you wanna know why we drove to that plaza, praying to find you there? Because Cat had a panic attack, thinking that you were going to commit suicide or do something stupid. She risked being rejected by you again, to get deeply hurt by you again, just to make sure you were safe. So, explain it to me, Vincent. What did you think you would accomplish by leaving us behind?"

"I... I...," the taller man stuttered, unable to defend himself from his friend's accusations.

"Yeah, that was what I thought. It's been a long night and I'm tired. Good night, Vincent," JT dismissed him, heading to his bedroom. "Oh, and if you decide to leave again, nobly thinking you'll be protecting me, at least be man enough to say it to my face."

Listening to JT's steps walking towards his bedroom was as painful as hearing Cat taking off the warehouse. The atmosphere around Vincent felt dense and suffocating. What was wrong with him? Everything he did, no matter how small it was or how noble his intentions were, ended up hurting everyone around him.

To say he spent the entire night thrashing in his bed, trying to force his eyes to shut and be blessed with sleep's oblivion was an understatement. The first rays of daylight found him wide awake and deeply regretful of his rushed decision. Hadn't he just done the same thing he did when his brothers died; ran away from everyone and everything he cherished in a poor attempt to ease up his pain? When would he ever learn? When will he grow up?

JT woke up to the delicious smell of baking and fresh coffee. The smell actually confused him and he went to check the kitchen, just to find a table set with dishes and silverware for two neatly arranged, pancakes, coffee, scrambled eggs, orange juice and maple syrup just waiting for him to dig in and a very apologetic looking Vincent anxiously hovering over it.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but we didn't have amazing sex last night, right?" he asked Vincent with just a little bit of amusement in his tone.

The comment took Vincent by surprise and he laughed out loud. A genuine laugh, like JT hadn't heard in a long time. The corners of the professor's mouth lifted up slightly, but he held the smile back. He wouldn't crack so easily. He was still too pissed at him.

"No, no, we didn't," his roommate confirmed, still laughing a little. He sobered up and said, "This is my apology. I know one simple breakfast won't make my mistakes go away, but I wanted to show you some sign of commitment. I thought a lot last night and I want you to know that I'll change. I keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, running over things and destroying them without thinking twice. It's not right and I want to change. But I'll need you around to set me straight when I get sidetracked again; you're good at it. Can you help me?"

"Will you make me breakfast everyday if I say I will?" JT asked, not able to resist Vincent's sincere attempt of making amends.

"No, man. This is once in a lifetime, so you better enjoy it!" the ex-doctor commanded smiling.

"When have I not helped you?" the glassed man asked in a calm and serious tone.

"Never," Vincent answered right away, using the same seriousness.

And just like that, they were good again. Like brothers should be.

"Then, let's eat," JT said solemnly and he sat down, putting a big portion of scrambled eggs on his plate.

**A/N: For those of you that asked, I like OUAT. It's not an undying love/obsession like I have for BatB, but it's good entertainment. My favorite couple is Abigail/Frederick – I know what you thinking, but their story was so sweet and we never got to see its end. **

**But my real reason to quote the series here was to show how much Cat loves Vincent. Even unconsciously, she likes things related to him in some form. Plus, I love JT rubbing in Vincent's face that Snow White's evil stepmother is better than him. **

**I wasn't planning on writing an entire chapter about JT and Vincent, but JT wouldn't shut up. He was just too pissed! ;p**

**I'm more than satisfied, though. I think they needed to reaffirm their brotherly bond after all that tension. **

**What do you thought? Please, review. **

**See ya!**


	11. Welcome to the Rest of my Life

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Welcome to the Rest of my Life**

Cat stormed inside her apartment, crying like a wounded child, throwing her bag and car keys carelessly over the kitchen counter. She fled past very astonished Heather towards her bedroom, fully intending on throwing herself over her bed and crying all night long. But as soon as she entered the room and saw the fire escape's window she changed her mind, running to close it and closing the curtains. Not satisfied, she ran through their apartment, closing ALL the windows and ALL the curtains.

"Cat! Cat! What's wrong?" Heather asked repeatedly, following her on her insane route through the apartment.

When the last window was securely closed she let herself slide to the floor, crying inconsolably and felling like a withered pierced inflatable dummy. The last bit of energy she had gradually leaving her body. She was tired... just so tired.

"Cat, talk to me," her sister pleaded in a pained whisper, kneeling down beside her.

"Oh, Heather!" she breathed, embracing Heather's warm body and basking in the little bit of relief her sister's love afforded her.

Both sisters remained seated on the floor, hugging each other tightly, Cat's head nestled on the base of her sister's neck, Heather caressing her hair and whispering disconnected words of encouragement, while Cat slowly calmed down. When Cat's torrent of tears turned into quiet sobs she disentangled herself from their embrace and looked up at her with poufy bloodshot eyes.

"Heather, I need to get out of here. Get out of New York. Just for a little while," she said in a pleading tone.

"Like a vacation?" the short-haired girl asked in an understanding way, as if Cat's schizophrenic behavior made perfect sense.

"Yes, like a vacation. Please, come with me," Cat pleaded so quietly that only the short distance between them allowed Heather to hear it.

"Of course, silly. You know me, always up for free a vacation," her sister answered right away, smiling cheerfully.

Cat's felt her chest expanding with love for her extremely generous and understanding sister, admiring the most prominent trace of her personality. Cat made an insane request after an emotional outburst and she accepted right away, without asking any questions, without having second thoughts and without restrictions. Ready to help her older sister – the one that was supposed to be helping her – in any way she needed it.

"Who says I'm paying it?" she asked mockingly, smiling through her tears.

"Well, you can't expect to have a travel companion like me for free, baby. That's just the perks of being awesome," the younger woman responded, faking superiority, in a carefree matter.

"But I want to leave tomorrow morning," the female detective warned timidly.

"No problem. My boss owns me some free days. I'll call him and let him know I have some family issues to take care of. He had asked me to consider taking the free time now because work is slow and he wants me to be ready when really necessary, anyway," she explained.

"Okay. Let me see what I can find at the last minute and I will get back to you. Beach or mountain?" the older sister asked.

Since she had been so willing to put her life on hold, just to help Cat to get back on her feet, it was only fair that she choose their destination.

"Beach, sweetie. Always beach," Heather chose without blinking.

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**Day One**

The day's early hours were spent packing for their trip. Since their plane would leave at 10 am they didn't have much time to waste, which was good because Heather and an empty suitcase wasn't a good combination; having little time to waste would help her keep focused on the strictly necessary and Cat wouldn't have to deal with three bags full of shoes – or something as useless as that – they wouldn't have the chance to use.

A beautiful resort in Aruba was waiting for their arrival just a few hours later. Heather hadn't asked her what happened again and Cat was grateful for that. She knew she would have to give her sister some explanation, but she needed to let her mind rest for a while before having enough energy to choose which little pieces of the big picture she could share with her. Right now, she just needed to rest.

She called Joe earlier, letting him know about her trip. It was a risk to her career doing something so unpremeditated as to take a last minute vacation and she could tell that he hadn't been happy about it, but her emotional state wouldn't help her either. She was choosing the option with less possibilities of showing ineptitude.

Her phone started to ring. She picked it up and turned it off without checking the caller's ID. She had talked to Tess, her dad, Joe and a few more of her friends to let them know she would be out of town already so she had an idea of who it might be calling her so early in the morning.

And, even if she were wrong, she didn't want to know who was.

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The line rang, rang and rang until the voicemail finally answered. Sighing, Vincent hung up before it started recording; he had already messed too many things up to dare and apologize to Catherine through a cold and impersonal voice message. He needed to talk to her personally, to look into her eyes and show her how much he regretted his last display of immaturity and how much he wanted to change.

To show her how much he loved her.

JT had left to work and he was confined to the cage again. Although he hadn't had any fugue episodes during the disastrous previous day, they were worried about what the stress could do to him. Even dying to see Catherine, he agreed with his friend to spend the day quietly waiting for the night to come inside the cell, practicing some calming breathing exercises; it was a logical thing to do. He couldn't do his ritualistic reckless escapades on the first day of the promise he made to JT. It would be a painful long day, but going through with it without losing his mind would teach him some self control.

To be honest, he had expected her not to pick up the phone, but he had to try it, anyway. At least, she could see that he had called, that he cared.

He felt that throbbing pain in his head starting again and panicked. JT wasn't there to shoot him with the tranquilizer if he got out of control. He tried to practice the breathing exercises. Breathing in and out. Breathing in and out. In and out, in and out. Suddenly, darkness washed over him.

He was back in Afghanistan, seating at a table with a can of beer in his hand, talking to Lafferty. She had some kind of rage attack and the doctors took her to run a battery of tests. Vincent spotted Dr. Vanessa Chandler, leader doctor of the super-soldiers' scientists project, and went to talk to her about his friend. She explained that some of the soldiers were having fugue episodes and she was working on a serum to help minimize its effects.

"Vincent! Vincent! Man, are you all right?" he heard JT's voice calling to him as if he was at the end of a long tunnel.

Little by little, he regained consciousness, shocked by that vision. It wasn't a hallucination; it was an actual memory. He told JT about it and both of them got really excited to finally understand the cause of his blackouts. He couldn't wait to tell Catherine. Her mother was the project's leader and she was trying to find a way to help the soldiers with the side effects of the DNA's mutation. Perhaps that was the reason that compelled him to try to save her nine years ago.

Night came, bringing excitement and dread. It was time to see his Catherine and make amends. No matter how angry she was, how difficult it would be, he would face it. She was worth it.

He talked to JT, explaining to him that he needed to talk to Catherine himself, that he needed to be physically close to her, which he agreed with surprising ease after making Vincent promise that he would run straight home at the minimum sign of any disturbance. Apparently, the idea of having a solution for Vincent's problem had affected him in a very good way.

On his way to her place, he spotted something that caught his eye. It was as perfect and beautiful as his Catherine, although he still thought that the woman he loved was even prettier. On an impulse, he bought it and the simple act of buying something for her brought a smile to his face.

When he finally arrived at her apartment he noticed that all the windows were closed, the lights were off and there weren't any noises inside. It was unusual, but not totally unexpected; after all, she did have a stressful day yesterday. She must have sought comfort with Tess or Heather in a girl's night out. That was what girls did when heartbroken, right?

But the hours passed and there were no signs of their return and Vincent was getting really worried. What happened? Was his Catherine okay? She left the warehouse so upset. Maybe something happened to her on her way home.

He took a reckless decision and went to her front door, making sure to pull his hat down to cover his face and certifying that his coat's lapel was up.

"Hi, I want to speak with Ms. Catherine Chandler in the apartment 1201, but I think her intercom is not working. Can you reach her for me, please?" he asked the doorman.

"Oh, sorry, sir! I'm afraid Ms. Chandler is out of town with her sister. She didn't tell me when she'll be returning," the employee answered kindly.

"Well, thanks anyway," Vincent said, trying to cover his disappointment.

Out of town? Where? And most importantly, when would she return?

He knew she would be upset, but he didn't think about that possibility. He wanted so much to see her. He sighed, disappointed. But, if she didn't tell the doorman when she would return it couldn't be that long, could it? She had to go to work, after all. Certainly she would be back by the nightfall. He went back to her fire escape and set down the item he had bought her earlier in the hopes that she would see it when she returned. He looked at it and smiled. Yes, it was as beautiful as his Catherine.

A symbolic representation of his true feelings. A single perfect, fresh and delicate red rose quietly whispering "I love you"...

**A/N: The story will be counted on days from now on. That's why we're on Day One. Be patient with me. There's a reason for that. **

**I'm very aware that residential buildings usually don't have doorman, but we all know Cat's family is rich so it makes sense that her building is a little more "equipped" than the average. Plus, I needed Vincent to know she's out of the town and there's this thing called poetic license that a lot of authors in FF use in much more implausible ways. So suit me! ;P**

**I'm gonna follow some plots of the show, but twist them enough to fit this story. That's why I quoted Vincent's memory of Vanessa.**

**I love Heather. I think her character has so much potential, yet the writers didn't seem to explore it. So far, I hadn't saw her as a real sister to Cat, only like a dear friend. I understand that their mother's death broke them apart and living together is their chance to change it and the writers want to make it clear, but she hadn't show something that says "we share the same principles" yet, you know?**

**Poor Cat! She's a wreck! I still think that having Queen Regina riping her heart out of her chest is the only way to make her forget about Vincent! :) And Vincent is not that much sane without her, either! **

**What am I gonna do with those two? Make them suffer a little more, of course! ;P**

**What did you thought about the rose? It's important.**

**See ya!**


	12. Hide and Seek

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Hide and Seek**

**Day Two**

The warm sun touching her body covered only by an orange bikini was soothing and gave her the feeling of being embraced in light. She had been in a dark world for so long that she forgot how good it was to simply let the light in.

Heather wanted to hang out at the resort's pool and show everyone her hot new dark green bathing suit, but Cat knew she wouldn't be able to restrain herself and socialize with whoever got close enough to have a friendly chat and Cat really wanted to have some alone time, just the two of them, so she asked the younger woman to accompany her to the nearest beach where they both laid down on the sand. She knew it would be impossible to spend ten days in the same place without getting acquainted with someone, but at that moment, she needed peace and quiet.

Lucky for her, she had learned that passionflower tea was capable of knocking her out even during her most stressful moments – she discovered that right after her mother's death, when she took every single piece of advice people gave her to help her cope, even if it was something as trivial as making a cup of tea – so she took a ridiculous amount of it before boarding the plane. Consequently, she slept during the entire flight and all night and, boy, did she need that rest.

"Feeling better?" Heather asked in a sweet tone.

"Yes, much better. Thanks for doing this for me. And thank you for not asking questions," she said, solemnly. "I know how much you must want answers right now, but I need just a little more time before I can share, okay?"

"I don't need answers, Cat. I know. It's 'the guy', isn't it?" Heather responded and Cat nodded slowly. She took Cat's hand and squeezed it lightly. "When you feel ready, I'll be here!"

"I know! I love you," the older sister affirmed.

"Love you, too!" Heather answered.

They were at the beach for an hour or so and Cat was already struggling with herself, trying to suppress the masochistic urge to pick up her phone and check her missed calls. She committed the utter mistake of turning on her phone to see if there were any important text messages or missed calls, just to have her knees turned into Jell-O when the display showed seven missed calls from the same unknown New York number. She knew instantly that it was Vincent's new burner number. Since then, she kept trying her hardest to divert her eyes from the offensive exasperating device. Finally, she turned it off and tossed it into her beach bag.

"_There! Out of sight, out of mind,"_ she thought.

The nerve of that man!

What could he possibly want with her? To hurt her even more? To make sure that her heart was duly broken? No, she wouldn't pick up any of his calls. Even if her fingers were aching to call him back. No, she would absolutely not call him back! She went there to enjoy the beach and the sun, to relax and to forget about his existence. And that was exactly what she would do, no matter what!

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Vincent took his phone out of his pocket to check if he hadn't missed any calls – knowing first hand that he hadn't – for the thousandth time. Or at least, that was what it seemed.

Catherine had said she was done with him right after slapping him in the face, but he couldn't believe she actually meant that. She didn't, right? After all, she loved him, right? She had admitted it to her sister, he heard it. She had a panic attack, thinking that he would commit suicide, which meant she couldn't bare to think about him dead, right? She wouldn't stop loving him within one day, right? Right?

No, of course not. She was just mad and upset. She had all the right in the world to be mad; after all, he did write her a letter telling her he didn't love her.

Ugh! He was such an idiot! Whatever it was that Dr. Chandler put on those DNA cocktails, it certainly wasn't meant to increase the soldiers' intelligence. Or maybe he was just too dumb and that was as far as his mind could evolve.

"Stop staring at that phone and come help me out with this endorphin cocktail! I'm starting to think you'll ask it to marry you and I don't think your children would be very pretty!" JT berated him, bringing him back to their work.

"She doesn't answer my calls," Vincent commented, feeling miserable.

"That tends to happen when your girlfriend is mad at you," the professor said nonchalantly.

"Only she's not my girlfriend," he affirmed.

"And whose fault is that?" his friend retorted.

"JT, please, don't start. I already apologized and I'm trying, okay?" the war veteran pleaded.

There was so much sadness in his tone that JT didn't have the heart to make fun of or reprimand him, instead he entrusted him to check on the cocktail's chemical elements, thinking that spending the rest of the day working on the endorphin cocktail would help Vincent to think about some other thing than his threatened love life.

JT theorized after the first memory of Vanessa that Muirfield probably did something to erase the soldiers' memories and, since the endorphins seemed to release those memories, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and trigger them again. Perhaps they could find some valuable information hidden in the depths of the ex-doctor's mind. It was a difficult task due to the archaic equipment they had, but they were slowly progressing.

Vincent spent most part of the day locked up in the cage, only getting out after JT came back from work and he was beginning to feel suffocated inside the warehouse. The only thing that kept him going was the thought of seeing his Catherine again at night. Since he was planning on going to her place after 10 pm, she would probably be home by the time he got there. He asked JT to buy another red rose for her on his way home because he really wanted to give a fresh one to her and he didn't want to risk finding out the vendor ran out of them at the last minute.

It was a small gesture, he knew as much. But there was something about it that he just couldn't let go. Maybe it was due to his childhood's memories.

His mother always loved it when his father bought roses for her; she simply shone when she brought them up to her nose and smelled their sweet perfume. Especially when he did it just for the fun of it, without really having something to celebrate.

His father always gave her red roses. When Vincent was very little, maybe four or five, he naively asked his mom why she didn't like the other colors. She laughed and said that she did like the other colors, but only red roses meant eternal love. For some reason, Vincent never forgot about that silly conversation.

The funny thing about that was that he never gave red roses to Alex. She claimed that she didn't like roses so he always bought her wild flowers or lilies. Never red roses. Never eternal love. Maybe it was a sign and he hadn't been able to read it back then.

What if Catherine didn't like roses, either? What if she didn't understand the meaning of the red ones? Worst: what if she did understand and refused it? Something inside told him that his Catherine did like red roses, though, and that she wouldn't refuse them. But he was afraid, anyway. What if he was relying too much on that conversation Catherine and Heather had he overheard? It could be too late.

As foolish as it was, he still had hope, still thought that, if the love she felt for him was minimally closer to the love he felt for her, she would give him a second chance. But to win a second chance he had to talk to her and she wasn't answering the freaking phone and that was just killing him.

Patience, he thought, while practicing the breathing exercises. He had to learn patience, had to stop worrying so much, getting so worked up just by thinking of her rejecting him. How is he supposed to control himself in Beast form if he couldn't control himself not even in human form?

He talked to JT about it – as his resolution of changing requested – and his friend advised him to try practicing the calming exercises for an hour or so before going to Catherine's. They couldn't risk him having a fugue episode on his way there. First, because it was dangerous and second, because he really needed to reach his destination.

The night was chilly outside, but he didn't mind. The could helped him to stay grounded and sane, ignoring the rapid beating of his heart. It didn't take him long to reach Catherine's apartment. With disappointed eyes he saw her windows still closed, the lights still off and the rose he left for her the previous night still seating outside her window. She hadn't return yet. She was upset and needed some time out, he knew it, but he was a selfish man and wanted her there so he could hear her voice and her heartbeat.

Vincent still waited outside the fire escape for a couple of hours, in the hopes that she had decided to leave whatever place she were late to avoid traffic or something, but his Catherine still didn't show up. He wanted to be close to her again, but that wasn't the day he would do it yet.

The scarred man looked between the fresh rose he had in his hands and the slightly withered one seating at the windowsill, trying to decide what to do. The logical thing to do was taking both back with him, but it didn't feel right. Both roses were Catherine's, he bought them to her, they belonged to her – as well as his heart – and he couldn't will himself to take any of the three items back.

It was childish and inexplicable, but he felt that he had to left them there, he had to let her know he was there looking for her two nights in a role. So the lonely rose hanging on the windowsill got herself a companion while he went back to the warehouse, hoping that she would return on the next day.

**A/N: If you do a little research on roses' colors and their meanings you'll find that what I put on the story isn't exactly accurate. But )that's the whole point. The red rose thing is not about the actual meaning of red roses, is about Vincent's perception of it. **

**He's a guy, therefore, it's highly unlikely he cares about this kind of thing unless he has a reason for that, like actually planting roses or something. His ex-fiancée claimed she didn't like them so, even if he wanted to say something through a flower to her, it would have to be another one. **

**That's why he still connects the roses to his parents love and what his mom taught him about it. It's a beautiful way to see it, don't you think?**

**Are you guys still following the rose thing? (malicious smile)**

**Okay, guys, let me tell you a secret. When I don't review a story is because I really didn't like it so I don't have anything to say to the author. So imagine what I think when I don't get reviews? Yeah, that's right! And, frankly, that's really a mood killer. **

**SO REVIEW! ;P**

**See ya!**


	13. Far From The Eyes, Close To The Heart

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Far From The Eyes, Close To The Heart**

**Day Five**

It was so weird to be out in the sunlight. Vincent hated to be confined in the warehouse during the day; he always loved the sun and its warmth. But he understood that the risk of exposure was bigger in daylight so he settled for exercising at the warehouse's rooftop and little escapades to visit his Catherine or to help her with her cases.

But he never went outside during the day for too long and never went into wide open spaces.

Thus, it was really unsettling to be hidden behind a thin tree, trying to remain under its almost non-existent shadow, across the street of Mr. Chandler's house. Add to that the fact that he had been observing his daily routine with the intent of breaking and entering his property and the result was a very uneasy super soldier.

Vincent had another endorphin induced fugue episode inside the warehouse three days ago. JT had made a stronger dose of the endorphins cocktail and he blacked out for almost an entire hour, remembering details of his time at the super soldiers' camp and remembering having saved Vanessa from death back then.

Vanessa was a very dedicated doctor, Vincent remembered that much. She was always trying to protect them, to make the changes the DNA cocktails did to them as safe as possible. When the soldiers started to show signs of dangerous side effects, she began to work on a serum to minimize those effects. She kept a green covered notebook constantly with her, making notes, calculations and equations. Vincent remembered clearly the look of guilt in her eyes when Lafferty was taken to God knows where, never to be heard of or seen again.

When that particular memory resurfaced, JT and Vincent came up with the theory that Vanessa might have kept her notes and that those notes might be at her house. Vincent started to keep tabs on Mr. Chandler's routine almost immediately.

Him and his fiancée appeared at the doorway exactly at 7:30 am, as they had done for the past two days. They were probably going to their respective jobs, since they never came back before 5:00 pm which gave him plenty of time to do a little search on the house. Still, he waited for two longs hours before doing anything, fearing to be surprised by a housekeeper or someone else.

He sighed, wishing once more to have discussed the crazy idea with his Catherine. She could have access to the house in a much easier way. But he hadn't heard from her since that awful day when she told him to keep away from her.

FIVE DAYS. Five days without seeing her, without knowing where she was or having the chance to apologize. Five long days living with the threat of having screwed up all his chances with her.

He called her everyday without succeeding to reach her; she wouldn't answer his calls. He went to her apartment every night with his heart full of hope and a fresh red rose in his hands, only to have said heart broken at the sight of her dark apartment with closed windows. And the pile of roses at her windowsill increased a little more everyday.

Thinking about it made his eyes blink with an uncomfortable burning sensation and his body contract with a cold and painful shock. He shook his head to clear his mind, trying to focus on the task at hand. He needed to get in and out of the house as fast as he could.

For such a wealthy man, Mr. Chandler was a little relaxed with regards to security, which was awesome for the ex-soldier, but not very safe for him; Vincent made a mental note to talk to Catherine about it later. There were no surveillance cameras or alarms on the property. They relied only on one single private patrol cruiser with two security guards that were hired by the community, but the guards spent the day making rounds around the neighborhood so it would be easy to pass by them. He waited for the cruiser's round and ran to the house at the same moment the cruiser entered the corner.

The most likely place to have old notebooks stored would be the garage and that was where he headed first, praying to find Vanessa's notes there so he could take off quickly. There were a lot of boxes stacked on the shelves at the right wall and he went there in long strides, covering the distance in no time. He smiled to himself, noticing various boxes labeled "Vanessa's work". Bingo! It couldn't be easier, could it? Finding the famous green covered notebook and some other interesting notes about the project wasn't that difficult after that.

He was satisfied. He managed to get in and out in less than two hours with information enough to give him a lot of hope. He went straight to the warehouse, after calling JT and letting him know what he had found, sending a little prayer to have Catherine return that night. He couldn't wait to tell her.

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Cat and Heather were at an almost empty club downtown and Cat was beyond amused with her sister's disappointment. They really didn't know much about Aruba so they asked the hotel's manager for some tips about hot night clubs since Heather wanted to dance. He pointed at a club, but warned them that it wouldn't have too many costumers since there weren't many tourists in town during that time of the year.

Heather insisted on going anyway so they were stuck sitting at the bar's table, having drinks and watching a few couples dancing and some people scattered around chatting. The place was cute in a kind of simple way, decorated as a beach house, with woody rounded tables and a little stage where the band was playing lively songs.

According to Heather, though, there weren't hot single guys available. Cat couldn't tell; her perception of hot guys was off lately. Hell, her perception of men in general was off. Her mind refused to recognize any trace of male beauty on any of the male population around, involuntarily comparing the shape of their hands with _his_ hands, the color of their hairs with _his_ hair, their perfect skins with _his_ scarred face and so on. She kept pushing her mind to its limits, though, checking out all the blonds.

"_I will find someone interesting!"_ she told herself, stubbornly.

"This place sucks!" Heather complained, giving up.

"I don't think so! The music is good, the place is cute and those guys close to the bar's counter are totally checking us out," the older sister replied with a smug smile on her face.

"Where?" Heather asked loudly enough to make Cat blush.

"There," she pointed straight ahead with her chin.

The younger sister turned quickly to face the group of three guys, smiling invitingly and then she turned back to Cat with a puzzled expression.

"What's up with you and blond men these past few days? I thought you liked dark haired guys," she asked so naively that took Cat by surprise.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the hazel eyed girl responded quickly.

"Well, you like dark haired guys. You always look at the dark haired ones when we go out. I mean, not currently, because you seem like you don't notice any men in the room lately, but before..." the short haired girl started to explain, but one of the guys cut her off.

"Are those seats taken?" a tall blond man with pale blue eyes asked, looking directly at Cat.

Emboldened by Heather's enthusiasm, the guys decided to take a chance and try to meet the two cute girls. There weren't many single girls at the bar at that moment, but the lack of options wasn't the reason for approaching them. The girls were beautiful.

"They are, but we can be persuaded to vacate them," Cat answered, blushing furiously at her own boldness.

In the back of her mind, an alarm started to sound, insistently flashing a pair of sad hazel eyes in front of her own. An uncomfortable lump formed in her throat, making her heart beat fast. But she ignored all those feelings, fighting with all her will the urge to hide from those men in a dark room and cry her wounded heart out. She was strong and determined. She would not think of him! She would find someone interesting and would forget about him!

"How about we pay the next two rounds?" his friend, a cute glassed guy with a nerdy vibe asked.

He had light brown curled hair and medium height. Heather clearly got hooked by his cuteness, smiling brightly. The third guy was also blond, but much shorter than his friend.

"Sold," the younger sister agreed. "I'm Heather and this is Cat, by the way."

"I'm Taylor," he introduced himself, taking a seat next to Heather, followed by his friends – the blond tall guy sat next to Cat, smiling brightly at her. "They are Cameron and Vinnie."

Cat felt a cold wave shaking her body, looking at the blond guy at her side with wide eyes.

"Vinnie as in short for...?" she asked hesitantly.

"Vincent, of course!" the blond man answered, smiling widely at her attention.

"_Oh, crap!"_ she thought astonished.

**A/N: Had you guys ever noticed that when you're trying your hardest to forget about a guy – or girl, for that matter – every new one you met have his name or some physical feature that reminds you about him/her?**

**It must have something to do with Astrology! ;P Believe me, it happens; been there, done that! **

**So, do you think Vincent already suffered enough for his screw up? There's people out there saying that I'm being light with him! I guess everyone is pissed with the ugly redhead and fanfics are their way to get even.**

**Guys, I'm so happy! My fellow Beastie TaleNeverTold made an awesome review of "Out of Control" on Tumblr. Thank you, Ksana! If you want to check it out, access Team Catcent page on it. Since FF doesn't allow links here, I'll try to trick it below. **

**Http**

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**teamcatcent**

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**tumblr**

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**com**

**/post**

**/42115355472**

**/review-of-fics-out-of-control-by-russetfurbr**

**P.S.: I'm so pissed with Vincent right now, after seeing that awful promo scene with Cat and Vincent running in the park, that I stopped writing ch 14! I just can't do it! If I write something now, I'll just let Muirfield get him and marry Cat with Evan!**

**He's acting like a stupid, ignorant, douche a**! I never thought I would hate Vincent! This script is a mess!**

**I just can't write...**


	14. Partial Truths

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Partial Truths**

**Day Eight **

The phone, placed on the small table of the Chandler girls' hotel room, was ringing again. That was call number thirteen. Cat took a perverse habit to stare at it while it rang and count the missed calls. She just couldn't avoid it; there was something about seeing it ringing that soothed her heart. She sighed, knowing that she was going crazy.

"You could at least turn this damn phone off so I could have a little peace, you know?" her sister complained.

"Yes," Cat responded blankly.

"Are you going to do it?" Heather insisted.

"No," the older sister replied in the same neutral tone.

Heather let out a ruffled sound, a mixture of cry and snot, looking pretty indignant. Cat looked up to meet her eyes with a pleading expression that made Heather throw her hands up in defeat.

"What is wrong with you?" the short haired woman asked outraged.

"Everything," was the lame response.

That was simply ridiculous. Heather felt an irrational urge to throw her older sister in the cold ocean outside and keep her there until she started to talk. She took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

"You do know that Matthew will be here in two hours, right?" she questioned.

"Yes. It gives me one and a half hour to just lie here," Cat replied, taking her eyes from the now-silent phone.

"Cat, please!" Heather whispered in a maternal tone. "It's been eight days! Talk to me! You can't go on like that!"

"Heather, I..." she started, her eyes burning with barely controlled tears. "I can't! I can't!"

Her voice trembled and the tears fell, despite her desperate effort to hold them back.

"Okay, so don't tell! What about twenty questions? I ask and you answer. No pressure," the younger sister suggested comprehensively.

"If I say I can't answer, would you accept it and drop it?" Cat asked eagerly.

She needed to talk. Desperately! Urgently! Frantically! She couldn't tell her everything, though. Hell, there was so little she could tell. But the little she could take off of her heart would help her so much!

"Yes, I will! No pressure, I promise!" her little sister said promptly.

"Okay," she whispered.

"So, it is a guy, right? Because I'm totally cool if you decide to date a woman," Heather said hurriedly, trying to clarify her line of thought.

For the first time in days, Cat laughed out loud. Leave it to Heather to assume she was depressed because she didn't want to admit she was gay.

"Yes, Heather, it is a guy! Don't worry, I would have come clean with you if I was gay," she responded still laughing.

"I'm just saying it! I don't want you to think you can't tell me everything or that I would ever reject you," her sister justified.

"I know, sweetie!" Cat confirmed.

"What's his name?" she continued her questionnaire.

"Vincent." the older woman responded.

She could say his name. After all, there were plenty of Vincents in the world, it wasn't dangerous to say his name.

"Really? Now it makes sense why you ran away from that guy like he was the devil himself the other day," Heather concluded, talking more to herself than to Cat.

"I didn't run away from him like running from the devil!" her sister protested indignant.

"Is he married?" she continued, ignoring Cat's outburst.

"No, he isn't."

"Is HE gay?"

"No, he lives with a roommate, JT, but both of them are pretty much straight."

"Oh, come on, Cat! Give me something!" Heather gave up exasperated.

"I can't do anything! You're not asking the right questions," the older sister said, starting to relax with that silly game.

Only Heather could lighten up her dreary mood in such dark times.

"It's not funny!" she ranted.

"It is kind of funny!" Cat teased, a little less sad. "Okay, here it goes! He has some... medical condition."

There, simple and true. It was only part of the true, but that part Cat could share and it was such a relief to do it. She felt lighter just by admitting that to the person that was closest to her.

"Oh, my God, Cat! Is he dying?" Heather cut her off, penalized.

"We don't know that. I don't think he is, but we can't be sure. All we know is that is irreversible," Cat explained and she was so happy to be able to say that little true. "And he tried to push me away because of that. His roommate came home one day and he had left, leaving just two letters behind, one for me and one for him."

Heather couldn't believe what she was hearing. Poor Cat, going through all that alone! Why hadn't she talked to her about it? She was suffering so much...

"His letter to me said a bunch of lies. He even said that he had never loved me! You can't imagine what I felt when I read that, Heather! No one deserves to feel a pain like that. I thought my heart would break in a million pieces! The only other time I felt that kind of pain was when mom died. But JT saw how my letter affected me and showed me the letter Vincent left for him. Everything was different on that one! His letter to JT said that he loved me so much! So much, Heather! I still can't believe that he was capable of writing all those cold lies to me. But he was saying goodbye. And I... I thought..." Cat stuttered between sobs, tears running freely over her flawless skin. "I thought... that he... was going... to kill... himself!"

"Oh, Cat!" Heather exclaimed, pulling her to a tight hug.

Cat cried for a short while in her sister's arms, allowing herself the release and the relief of tears. It was all so painful.

"JT and I managed to find him and bring him back home. But he hurt me so much, Heather! I can't be with him anymore! He doesn't want me!" she stated, broken.

"Shhhhh, it's okay, sweetie! It's okay! It'll pass, you'll see," the younger sister soothed her.

Cat let herself be embraced by her sister, crying her broken heart out for a while. It was a poor excuse for relief and she knew it, but there wasn't much she could do. Vincent didn't want her in his life anymore and he went to great lengths to prove that. She knew he would try to apologize, but she didn't want to hear it. His message had already been delivered. Loud and clear.

"I guess I better start getting ready for my date, right?" she said, smiling sadly through her tears.

"Yeah, that'll be a good idea," Heather confirmed, pity obviously expressed in her tone.

Matthew was a sweet man they had met the day after the disastrous night at the club, when Cat 'gracefully called it a night' after finding out that one of the guys they met was called Vincent. She definitely hadn't 'run away from him like he was the devil himself'!

He was cute – not handsome, but cute enough to be pleasant to look at – and funny. They had a lot in common since, strangely enough, Matt lived in New York, too. Small world. So the three of them started to hang out and Matt showed interest in Cat openly so she decided to give it a try. They weren't actually dating and hadn't gone any further than walks under the moonlight and a couple of dinners. She wasn't ready to be with another man yet and she made it clear to him. He said he didn't mind having such a lovely company during his time in town and that made Cat feel especial. And there was nothing more Cat needed at that moment than to feel especial.

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Vincent rolled the little bottle containing the serum that he and JT managed to make following Vanessa's instructions between his fingers again. It hadn't been easy to duplicate her formula with the equipment they had at hand, but eventually they figured out how to bypass all the troubles and produce it.

"Now we just have to test it on Stallone and, in two or three days, we can be sure it's safe," JT said animatedly.

"No!" Vincent said firmly.

"Excuse me..." JT started to say, but his words got stuck in his throat when he saw his friend quickly injecting the serum on himself.

Vincent was fast and didn't give him time to react.

"What are you doing? We don't know what this can do to you. It can kill you!" the slightly bald man yelled frustrated.

"As if spending my days in a cage isn't already doing that," the war veteran whispered, lowering his head with a lost look on his face.

"Yeah, as if the cage was the problem!" JT affirmed knowingly. "She hasn't returned yet, has she?"

Vincent looked up at him and there was an ancient sadness in his eyes. It was a painful sight to see.

"No," Vincent responded simply.

"Have you... hum... I mean..." his friend struggled with his words, not really sure if he should voice his suspicious.

"What?" Vincent asked intrigued. Seeing JT's hesitation got him worried and he pushed, "What, JT? What do you know?"

"I know nothing, man, really! Trust me! It's just that I was thinking, you know. Cat simply vanished. She's not at her father's, she's not at her work and her family has money. What if... Man, what if she just moved away?" the other man conjectured.

That thought hadn't crossed Vincent's mind, but as soon as JT voiced it, the ex-soldier felt a hot electrical shock produced by fear running through his body.

She wouldn't do that, would she? Catherine wouldn't leave all her life behind over a misunderstanding like that, right? His Catherine wouldn't really leave him forever, would she?

But, why wouldn't she do that? Wasn't that what he did? Leave everything behind to run away from his pain. That was what he did repeatedly. And both of them were so alike. They had so much in common. Why wasn't it possible for them to share that kind of weaknesses, too?

"Vincent, Vincent! Calm down, man! Vincent! Get a hold of yourself, you're transforming!" JT shouted, bringing him back from his tormented thoughts.

Vincent looked at him, seeing his arms raised in a defenseless gesture and a pleading look on his face and that vision brought him back to reality. He took deep breaths, trying to rein his panic attack and slowly relaxing. It had been easier to control the transformation that time, maybe because it hadn't happened due to rage but fear. After several minutes that dragged awfully slowly for JT's liking, he turned back to his human form.

"I'm sorry, man! I didn't mean to... It's just that... What if it's true, JT? What am I going to do? It's not like I can go to her father and ask what happened to her," he said in a hushed way and there was a hint of despair in his voice.

"Relax, big guy! Let's see how it plays out, okay? Give it a couple of weeks. If she doesn't come back, we'll figure it out, okay?" JT reasoned trying to sound more relaxed than he really was.

"Okay," Vincent replied hesitatingly.

But Catherine hadn't returned that night, either. And another rose joined the pile outside her windowsill.

**A/N: Since I'm not even close to be a scientist, I won't venture in trying to create a scene where Vincent and JT are working on the serum. Thus, the serum is ready when the scene starts. Sorry to disappoint someone if is that what you wanted. **

**Cat had to come up with some explanation to Heather and medical condition seemed so perfect. I couldn't resist. **

**Don't hate Matthew. He's a great guy!**

**Thoughts?**

**See ya!**


	15. The Wedding

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. All the rights to "Here Without You" from 3 Doors Down belongs to them and its quotes here were written only for entertainment. **

**The Wedding**

**Day Twelve **

Cat looked at Heather and herself through the body length mirror, impressed. The dresses were actually beautiful. Although each one had a slightly different style, both were made from the same kind of fabric and in a lovely shade of purplish red, almost a deep, rich burgundy so they matched. Her dress was strapless, which exposed he sun kissed skin which glowed after ten days in the beach in a lovely way, and the skirt danced around her body while she walked, making her look like floating. It was so romantic and appropriated for a wedding.

She sighed, remembering a time when all she wanted was having Vincent as her date to her father's wedding, even though knowing that it would be impossible. At least, in her dream she could have him with her back then. That seemed like a lifetime ago, though. And she couldn't dream about that anymore.

"These dresses are so beautiful, Brooke! Thank you so much for not dressing us up in puffy lemon green gowns! We would look like leprechauns and scare all the guests away," she affirmed as a compliment.

"Actually, that was my first choice," Brooke replied, looking sheepishly, and the three of them cracked up laughing.

"I'm so glad someone smacked some sense into you," Heather said.

They laughed again and Brooke seemed happy. Cat looked at her tenderly; glad to have solved their communication issues. Her future stepmother was indeed a charming person and she was truly happy for having her in their family.

"Brooke, is it too late to bring a date to the wedding?" Cat asked, looking kind of ashamed.

"Oh, no! Of course not! Your dad will be so happy! What's his name?" Brooke beamed.

"Matthew Donaldson. We met him in Aruba and I kind of mentioned that I didn't have a date to the wedding and he said he would be glad to go with me. Are you sure this is okay?" the hazel eyed woman asked unsure.

"A hundred percent sure! I'm just going to do some rearrangements and that's that! You can bring your hot date with you!" Brooke exclaimed, looking delighted.

"It's not a hot date! We're just friends for now, but I really enjoy his company," Cat assured her firmly.

"Your father will still be thrilled," the bride-to-be insisted.

After the tailor took measurements for the last adjustments, the girls went back to the Chandlers' place. After the vacation in Aruba, the girls went straight to their father's house to spend a few days with their family. They decided to spend the last days before the wedding there so that they could bond with Brooke and help with the last minute arrangements. Plus, Cat wasn't ready to go back to her apartment yet. There were just too many bitter sweet memories of Vincent there. She sighed, remembering the time when her apartment's windows held the sweetest memories of Vincent.

"Are you going to tell me about this guy or not?" Matt asked her.

Brooke asked her to invite Matt to dinner that night, alleging that Thomas was very worried noticing her sadness and that seeing his daughter getting along with a guy would soothe him a bit. She agreed, reluctantly, and called him.

After dinner, they went for a walk around the property's garden. It was so quiet, peaceful and welcoming, even in cold nights. Cat always loved it there.

"What guy?" she asked surprised.

"Oh, Detective Chandler, do you really think you're the only person around that can read people? You made it very clear that you're not ready for another relationship right now, which can only mean you were in one before we met. You're sad most of the time, which can only mean that the break up was recent and now you're asking an almost stranger to go to your father's wedding with you. So... Spill it!" he said cheerfully.

Matt was such a great guy! Why couldn't she love him? Why couldn't she love this wonderful and uncomplicated guy? Why couldn't she get lost in his brown eyes and his dirty blond hair the same way she would get lost on Vincent's hazel eyes and brown hair? Why couldn't she be as attracted to him as she was to Vincent? She sighed, thinking that life really wasn't fair.

"It's really nothing extraordinary, Matt. In a nutshell: girl meets guy, girl falls for guy, guy is an insensitive and selfish jerk that pushes girl away, girl has her heart broken. But girl goes to Aruba, gets lucky and meets a sweet guy, gets an amazing tan and makes a good friend at the same time. At least something good came out of it!" she said smiling sadly.

"You bet, sweet girl! I just wish I could be more than just a friend. But, hey, if friendship is all I can get, then I'll take it!" he stated comprehensively.

The next three days passed in a blur. Matt became a constant companion for Cat, always showing up for dinner or for a cup of coffee. They really got along great and he understood that Cat couldn't give him more than friendship at that moment, but he still wanted to spend time with her.

Maybe someday... In a far and distant future, things might change for them...

Although she knew that wouldn't really happen for she knew her heart would always belong to Vincent.

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**Day Fifteen**

That was the day of Mr. Chandler's wedding. Vincent was pacing the grounds outside his house, waiting for the reception to begin. It had been fifteen arduous days. Fifteen long days had passed without any news from his Catherine. But that was about to change because that was the day he would finally see her again. He decided to go to her father's wedding, hoping to surprise her enough so she could stop ignoring him and they could finally talk. Surprisingly enough, Vincent being there was all JT's idea.

They both knew Catherine wouldn't miss her father's wedding for nothing in this world so JT thought that it was the perfect opportunity for him to apologize to her. They also knew she wouldn't make a scene at her father's wedding and he could use that in his favor.

At last, the reception began and he finally saw her sitting alone in a table not very far from the doors. She looked somewhat sad and Vincent could affirm that her make up was made to try and conceal the dark circles under her eyes. His heart constricted with guilt for what his selfishness had made her go through.

That was the perfect opportunity. She was alone and the guests were too busy ordering their food or dancing. It was now or never. He approached her table slowly and carefully, trying his hardest to remain calm and at the same time inconspicuous among the guests.

Three things happened consecutively, as if it had been planned: Vincent reached Catherine's back, she turned and looked up at him as she had sensed his presence there and the song "Here Without You" from 3 Doors Down started to play.

_A hundred days have made me older_

_Since the last time that I saw your pretty face_

_A thousand lies have made me colder_

_And I don't think I can look at this the same_

_But all the miles that separate_

_They disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face_

There could not have been a song more perfect for that moment in time. He did feel like those last fifteen days had made him age somewhat, but seeing her face looking up at him with shock printed on those stunning hazel eyes after all that time really felt like a dream.

_I'm here without you baby_

_But you're still on my lonely mind_

_I think about you baby_

_And I dream about you all the time_

_I'm here without you baby_

_But you're still with me in my dreams_

_And tonight, it's only you and me_

And for a brief moment, it was only the two of them. Nothing else seemed to matter. Neither of them were able to talk, they were just frozen in each other's gaze, one basking in the sight of the other.

_The miles just keep rolling_

_Is the people leave their way to say hello_

_I've heard this life is overrated_

_But I hope that it gets better as be we go_

_I'm here without you baby_

_But you're still on my lonely mind_

_I think about you baby_

_And I dream about you all the time_

_I'm here without you baby_

_But you're still with me in my dreams_

_And tonight girl, it's only you and me_

_Everything I know, and anywhere I go_

_It gets hard but it won't take away my love_

_And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done_

_It gets hard but it won't take away my love_

Vincent extended his hand with its palms up towards her, in a clear invitation for a dance. The gesture averted her attention from his eyes and broke the spell.

"What are you doing here, Vincent?" Catherine asked, her voice expressing a mix of surprise, indignation and something else Vincent couldn't quite place.

"It was the only way I could think to reach you. You hadn't answered a single one of my calls for fifteen days, Catherine! I didn't know what else to do!" he explained in a pleading tone.

"So you crash my father's wedding? Please, Vincent, you need to go! You need to go now! I'm begging you! I can't ruin my father's wedding!" the petite female replied and there was so much pain in her voice...

"Catherine, I..." Vincent started to say, but a blond guy appeared behind Catherine's back, looking at him warily.

"Is everything alright here, darling?" he asked Catherine with too much happiness on his voice, putting his hand protectively in the small of her back.

The brunette woman looked at the ex-soldier alarmed, seeing his eyes flashing golden for a second.

"Yes, everything is fine," she whispered, not knowing what to do.

"Hi, there!" Matt said in a light tone, extending his hand towards the other man. "I'm Matt Donaldson, Catherine's boyfriend! And you are..."

"Leaving!" Vincent responded dryly, turning his back on them and walked away.

_I'm here without you baby_

_But you're still on my lonely mind_

_I think about you baby_

_And I dream about you all the time_

_I'm here without you baby_

_But you're still with me in my dreams_

_And tonight girl, it's only you and me_

"_...It's only you and me."_ Vincent kept listening the last words from the song in his head. But that was a lie, wasn't it? There was a third person in that dream. A dream that had rapidly transformed into his worst nightmare. He ran back to his home with all the speed his DNA altered body could muster, wanting nothing more than to die alone in a whole.

"_A boyfriend? Two weeks apart and she shows up to her father's wedding with a boyfriend?"_ he thought bitterly.

Then, he remembered something. Something that had already happened once. His Catherine had dated Evan when he first made the grave mistake of pushing her away. And even while dating the forensic examiner, she hadn't forgotten about him and she hadn't stopped loving him. She had dated him just because she was trying to forget about Vincent.

That realization raised a tiny ray of hope in his heart. After spending years watching her, he knew her behavior patterns. Catherine was trying to deal with a kind of pain she couldn't quite understand or get over. She was trying to move on and forget about him. That was very clear to him.

And he would be damned if he would let that happen!

He would fight tooth and nail for the woman he loved and no one would take her away from him. Not again. Not ever.

The old flower vendor smiled amusedly when he saw Vincent again, shaking his gray haired head. That guy simply didn't give up, did he? The girl must be something else. Well, he wouldn't be one to complain, even if the boy bought only a single red rose every night. He even started to make sure a red rose was still in stock for him to buy, concluding that it wouldn't hurt to do his bit to help him out. The poor guy deserved to have his plan work.

A perfect and fresh red rose joined the other fourteen outside of Catherine's windowsill that night and a pretty determinate Vincent went home, his mind working frantically on a plan to win his Catherine back.

**A/N: I really thought about putting "Wherever You Will Go" at the wedding scene like the show did. I understand why they did it and I thought it fit perfectly. **

**That said I have to confess I really don't like that song. But that wasn't the main reason for changing the song. "Here Without You" is so fitting for this scene that I couldn't resist. Plus, I simply adore this song!**

**I confess that was the first time I made a scene based on a song. It was fun and I hope you like to read it as much as I liked to write it.**

**On a side note, as much as I'm not fully satisfied with 1x12 (and I didn't dislike it entirely, I'm just disappointed), I did notice something awesome! Vincent only beasted out AFTER Cat fell to the ground and passed out for a few seconds. Before that, he was totally in control. **

**At least Beast knows who he truly loves! How cool is that?**

**See ya!**


	16. Dead Roses

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Dead Roses**

**Day Fifteen **

"Matt, what was that?" Cat asked alarmed.

She was torn between her need to run after Vincent and tell him that she didn't have any boyfriend, that he was the only man she ever wanted to be with and her necessity to protect her frail heart.

"That was me helping you getting your man on track, sweet girl" he responded all so calmly.

"W... what? It's not... He...," she stuttered, not knowing exactly what to say.

"Of course he is, Cat! I told you I'm not stupid, but you keep disbelieving me!" Matt said with a condescending smile and a playful gleam in his brown eyes.

She felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Matt was really something else.

"How did you... How could you...?" she tried to speak again, stumbling on her words.

"What? Figure out that he's 'the guy'? Elementary, my dear Watson! He was the only guy alone in the room that wasn't present during the wedding ceremony and he came inside directly towards you when he thought no one was looking at the both of you. You looked like you were seeing a ghost when you looked at him. To me it was pretty obvious," the blond man explained in a matter of fact tone.

"Why did you say you were my boyfriend? We talked about this, Matt!" she said pleadingly.

"Yes, we did," he agreed, a shadow of hurt crossing his eyes. "And I don't have any illusions here, Cat! Your heart belongs to him and there's nothing I can do about it. In fact, I don't think there's something YOU can to about it. I just thought that letting him know he's not the only fish in the sea would help him realize what he's losing. You might not want to be with me, Catherine, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to find happiness!"

Cat couldn't believe what she was hearing. In front of her was the sweetest man ever and she was pinning over the one that had hurt her so much that her heart was still bleeding profusely two weeks later. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she fall in love with Matt? But that wasn't her main concern at that moment.

"He doesn't want my heart," she whispered painfully.

Matt looked at her with amused eyes and chuckled, saying, "Then he's just a really sore loser, sweet girl! Because the man I saw walking out of here was absolutely pissed!"

"Why are doing this, anyway? Why are you being so nice to me? Why are you accepting all this without being offended?" the petite female asked intrigued.

"Pay it forward, of course! I help you to get your guy and maybe someday I get to find another girl as exceptional as you. And she would actually like me, imagine that!" he replied cheerfully.

"I like you!" she protested weakly.

"I know, but we both know that I'm not talking about that kind of liking," he stated calmly.

And the funny thing was that he didn't seem hurt at all when he said that. It was obvious that Matt wished he wasn't just a friend to Cat, but since he knew he wouldn't get what he wanted, he simply decided to move on and accept the sincere friendship she was offering him. It was something so mature and generous.

Yes, Matt was definitely a great guy!

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**Day Sixteen**

Cat was feeling her stomach twisting in knots over and over while she and Heather drove back to their apartment. It was the middle afternoon and they had just dropped off their father and his new bride at the airport for their honeymoon in a paradisiacal Pacific's islands.

Cat stalled that moment the best she could, but eventually she ran out of excuses and they had to go back home. To go back to a place full of memories of what she had lost. Of what could have been and she didn't even get to have. She wondered briefly if she would really be able to continue living there. That was how desperate she was and felt.

The first step inside her bedroom was the hardest. Everything was intact, yet everything had changed. There wouldn't be any Vincent sneaking around to see her or to talk to her. There wouldn't be any more hang outs at her fire escape. There wouldn't be any more flashes of golden eyes observing her in the darkness. Those thoughts opened her wound again and she sat at the bed slowly, thinking about how much time was time enough to feel that pain.

Just how much longer would she have to endure that pain? Because it would eventually go away, right? No one grieves a lost love for ten years or forever, right?

"God, this place really needs some fresh air! I guess having everything closed for two weeks made the apartment smells funny and musty. Do you mind if I open your window?" Heather said, rushing inside the bedroom in ultimate Heather's fashion.

She didn't really wait for an answer and went to the window before Cat had time to protest. Pushing the curtains aside, she let out a loud gasp.

"Oh, my God! What's that?" she half yelled, sounding disgusted.

Cat ran to her in full alert mode, thinking that there was some threat outside her window. But what she found was not threatening at all. It was beautiful in a weird kind of way.

There, before them, was a pile of red roses seating outside her windowsill, each one in a different stage of withering. By the looks of them, each one had been put there at different days. Heather pushed the window open on an impulse, gathering the roses.

_"No! It's not possible! Is it? He wouldn't do that, would he? Why would he do that?"_ Cat thought frantically, looking at the roses with her mouth agape.

"Cat, look at this! Oh, my God! Is there a psycho stalking you?" her sister questioned.

The short haired woman felt shivers running down her body, thinking that Cat could be in danger. But when she looked up at the dazzled expression on her older sister's face, she saw everything. Cat wasn't frightened, she was happily surprised. Which could only mean one thing.

"Cat? Cat, why are you looking at these dried roses like that?" she asked in a quiet whisper, not wanting to upset Cat. "They came from him, didn't they?"

Cat just nodded her head timidly, her vision blurred by unshed tears. She extended her arms slowly towards the roses and her sister placed the flowers on them.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, but this is creepy! These roses are dead! I mean, most of them are, anyway. It looks like something a psycho stalker would do," the younger sister pointed out gently.

But the hazel eyed woman was lost in her contemplation of the dried roses, tracing the delicate petals with tentative fingers. She counted them, just to confirm; she already knew how many roses were in her arms. She heard what Heather said, but she disagreed.

"No, Heather, it's not!" she replied in a calm whisper. "I know what they mean. He came here everyday with a rose for me. See? One is more withered than the other. He came here and left a rose everyday to show me he came."

"Really? Let me see," the other woman said, looking the roses closely. "Yeah, you're right, it does seem like they're in different stages of withering. How do you know what he's trying to say with this?"

"I just do! It was always like this with us. We just know each other," Cat said, still looking at the roses with longing eyes.

"But, Cat, that doesn't sound like a man that doesn't want anything to do with you. What aren't you telling me? Why would he do that if he doesn't want you in his life anymore?" Heather demanded, trying her hardest to understand that chaotic situation.

But her question only served to burst Cat's bubble of happiness and she averted her eyes from the roses, throwing them at her desk abruptly. A hot fury took over her rational thoughts and she only reacted to the pain that was threatening to engulf her heart again.

_"No! Not again! I'm not even healed yet, and he already wants to break my heart again?"_ she thought indignant.

"Heather, go get dressed! I'm calling Tess! We're going out tonight! Dress fabulously! It's a legitimate girl's night out!" she ordered, taking her phone and dealing Tess' number.

Heather forgot about the dried roses instantly. Yes! A girl's night out was exactly what Cat needed right now! It was about damn time her sister let go and she would see to it she had some fun.

**A/N: Thursday! My favorite day! **

**I bet all of you that loaded Matthew before are feeling bad now, right? Matt is a really decent guy. I know, I'm the first one to hate anyone that gets between our VinCat, but it was necessary.**

**When I first thought about the roses in the windowsill thing, I thought people might think it's creepy, but then I thought that Cat knows Vincent enough to understand immediately what he wanted to say, but I couldn't resist having Heather to point it out! LOL**

**What do you think about it? **

**See ya!**


	17. Madly Spinning World

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Madly Spinning World **

**Day Sixteen**

Catherine wasn't home again. He went there determined not to leave until she gave him a chance to apologize and say what he had to say. She wasn't hiding in her father's house anymore, that much he knew because the pile of roses wasn't hanging outside her windowsill anymore and her scent was fresh inside the apartment. He just hoped that she hadn't thrown them away and had understood what they meant.

Did she know they meant eternal love? What if she thought they meant something else? What if she didn't understand anything about the meaning of flowers? Yes, his Catherine was a girl, but she was also a bad ass cop. She might not care for that kind of thing. She might even not like flowers at all. But her apartment was so girlie in a discreet sorta way...

Vincent put the fresh rose in the same spot he put all the others and stood there looking at it for a while, then he sat on the fire escape's steps to wait for her. Two hours passed by and Catherine hadn't returned yet. He contemplated spending the night there waiting for her, but it was freezing outside and there weren't any guarantees she would come back today.

He was about to jump out from the fire escape and go home when he heard noises at Catherine's door and his nostrils caught her familiar scent. Heather and Tess where escorting her to her bedroom and he got alarmed. Something was wrong with his Catherine. Her scent was marred by the scent of a substance he knew quite well that she didn't consume on regular basis.

His Catherine was drunk!

The three girls were laughing in a silly way and he didn't have to have use his enhanced sense of smell to know they all were a little bit tipsy. Catherine seemed more affected than her girlfriends, though, judging by the way the other two women had to literally drag her to her bed. She oscillated a little on the edge of the bed before falling heavily on it laughing, in a clear demonstration of her altered stated.

She looked so different! Her hair longer and it was done in waves, half-tied in the back by two elaborate braids, each one starting at a side of her face, making it look wild and sexy. Her blue dress looked like something that came out of Heather's wardrobe. It had a sparkling bodice and naked back. Everything topped up with a ridiculously profound cleavage. And her make-up was really heavy, marking her eyes with black eye-shadow. Vincent had never seen Catherine dressed like that. She looked gorgeous and exotic.

"Huh, that was fun!" the hazel-eyed woman affirmed between alcoholic induced giggles.

"Okay, who are you and what did you do with my partner?" Tess tried to ask seriously only to dissolve in a fit of girlie giggles.

"Maybe the guy that she kissed at the club sucked her brains out!" Heather theorized with a raspy voice, obviously result of the consumption of large quantities of alcohol.

"_What? She kissed someone at a night club? What happened to that guy from the wedding?"_ Vincent thought furious.

"It was a stolen kiss! I didn't correspond to it!" Catherine protested weakly, struggling with sleep.

The genetic altered man felt something confusing, disturbing and new. A mix between incandescent jealousy – so strong that he saw a flash of gold in his eyes on the reflexion on the window pane – and freezing preoccupation. Someone had forced Catherine to do something – kiss, to be precise – she didn't want to do and he wasn't there to protect her because he was too distracted planning how he would talk to her that night.

"_Way to go, Keller! Nice way to keep her safe!"_ he thought.

"Eew! Cat, what are those dead roses still doing here? I thought you had gotten rid of them!" Heather complained disgusted, walking towards Catherine's desk.

"Don't touch them! They're mine!" Catherine exclaimed defensively, seating up with a jump. "Whoa! That was a bad idea..."

Vincent smiled a little at her defensive attitude towards the roses, feeling his heart swell with hope. That was a good sign, right?

She fell back again almost instantly, closing her eyes and the other two girls laughed out loud at her drunken state.

"What's so special about those things, anyway?" Tess asked with genuine curiosity.

There was no answer.

"Cat! Catherine Chandler!" the brunette Latina called, shaking her legs slightly.

"They're... mine... don't... touch...!," Cat mumbled groggily in her sleep.

"Well, at least I think she'll sleep all night today. Three weeks without proper sleep is just not healthy," Heather murmured.

"Three weeks? Boy, this man really got into her system, didn't he?" Tess concluded amazed.

"You have no idea, Tess. Come on, let's put some pillows on the couch so you can go to bed," the younger sister said, heading out of Catherine's bedroom, followed by Tess.

Catherine was sound asleep and she didn't seem like she was going to wake up any time soon. And according to Heather, she hadn't slept much since that awful day he tried to push her away when he was in the cage. The timing matched. That had happened exactly three weeks ago. He felt so guilty! He decided to let her have her rest for tonight. She needed it. What he had to say could wait another night.

"Sweet dreams, my beautiful Catherine!" he whispered to the window, hoping beyond hope that some part of her had heard him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Day Seventeen**

The alarm clock woke Cat up abruptly and she jumped on the bed, immediately feeling the world spinning wildly around her.

The wonders of a good hangover!

She couldn't remember the last time she felt that nasty hangover feeling. But she couldn't remember when was the last time she had a full night of sleep either so, at least in that aspect, drinking her broken heart away had been a good thing.

"_Rating A+ for alcohol!"_ she thought giggling.

She turned her head to the left, eyeing the pile of withering roses over her desk and vaguely remembering Heather's complaints about them. She knew her sister was right. She should get rid of them, she should throw them away and forget about them. But she couldn't. The same way she couldn't stop staring at her phone every time it rang with Vincent's specific tone, even if she was dead set about not answering his calls.

She looked at the roses for a long time, fighting the itch to touch them again, to smell their delicate perfume and caressing their silky petals. But touching them the previous day had felt too much as if she was feeling Vincent's soft cheek under her palms and she couldn't allow herself to need to touch the roses. Or to touch him. She got up abruptly and went to open her window in the hopes that the morning's fresh air cleared her head a bit. It was safe to open her windows in the morning because Vincent only came out at night.

That hadn't been a good idea, though. There was a new rose waiting outside of her windowsill again. A single fresh one. Telling her that Vincent was there again the previous night. Perhaps while she was out with Tess and Heather.

The rose was so beautiful and red. An oasis of red in the middle of the dreary gray and black colors of the buildings and fire escapes around it. And, even if it wasn't for the right reason, Vincent had bought it especially for her. Cat couldn't muster the courage to let it stay there, to turn her back on it. Her hand was shaking when she extended it towards the rose to take it.

She picked up all the roses and put them against the wall over her desk with the petals down as she saw once on TV so they could dry properly. They should be preserved. They were the only reminders of Vincent Keller's presence in her life. There was nothing she could do to fight against the love she felt when she looked at them. Maybe someday she could look at them and not feel like her entire world had lost its meaning. Maybe someday she could look at them and smile, thinking about how good it felt to love someone so deeply even if it was for a brief time.

They should be preserved.

She heard Heather's footsteps outside her bedroom and ran to the door, trying to catch her before she left for work.

"Heather!" she called.

Her sister turned around with a start and smiled at Cat's disheveled appearance and messy face. She looked funny with the make-up half destroyed and smudged and smearing mascara under her eyes.

"Hey, sis! You look like someone that past out drunk last night! Hey, that's right, you past out drunk last night!" the younger woman teased, laughing out loud at Cat's critical expression.

"Ha, ha! Very funny! I guess you don't want to go out again tonight, then," she said ironically, starting to turn slowly towards her bedroom.

"Stop right there, lady! You'd better be ready by the time I get home! I don't want to get to the club too late! All the hot guys would be taken if we get there later than the other girls," she warned.

Cat smiled deviously.

"Then you better get home soon!" she said sweetly, heading to the bedroom to shower and get ready to work.

**A/N: What do you think of "Party Cat"? I kinda like her. **

**Poor thing, thinking that Vincent just wants to dump her for good! tsk, tsk. **

**Guys, I have to say this. **

**I'm thrilled, excited, happy, over the moon and everything else all beasties all over the world are over the almost kiss!**

**But...**

**I'm still not convinced! I didn't see any moment when Vincent really showed to Catherine that she wasn't his second choice. He never apologized, never denied that he would go away with the ugly redhead if she hadn't rejected him and he didn't even really told to the dumb redhead that he loved Cat, even after her going to THE PRESS to reveal his identity. **

**And, on top of everything, at the end, the writers tried to redeem said dumb woman by making HER tell Cat that Vincent loves her? I didn't buy it! Sorry, but that was a poor excuse of a closure for her stupidity and to take her out of the picture. **

**And I can't believe Catherine forgave Vincent only based on the ugly redhead's word! Not once Vincent asked for Cat's forgiveness! The only time he mentioned his unbelievable previous behavior was to call Cat on "not making it easy" for him!**

**I'm sorry, mister, but when did you make it easy for her?**

**Yes, I loved the ep, it was romantic and all, but I still think that every threads of her presence on their lives are still loose. I still think Vincent hadn't redeem himself.**

**If anyone wants a pick on the dress I pictured for Cat, take a look below. **

**www**

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**See ya!**


	18. Last Party

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Last Party **

**Day Twenty One**

Another day. Another rose.

Cat got up from her bed in a hurry, running to the window. She couldn't avoid it anymore. She had to wake up to the sight of the red rose on her windowsill. It was torturing and heartbreaking, yes. Still she couldn't think about what she would do if she woke up one day and the rose wasn't there.

Those daily roses became something so important in her life that she had to get home every night drunk enough to simply pass out on her bed to prevent her from running directly to the window and see if there was a new one. She had to keep away from the window at night. She didn't know if Vincent stayed there, waiting for his chance to speak to her. The petite female didn't think she could handle hearing what he had to say. In fact, she was pretty sure she couldn't.

The brokenhearted woman was kind of exhausted. She had dragged Heather and Tess to night clubs every single night since she came back to her apartment. One of the reasons was to allow the loud music to numb his senses to anything other than her body's response to the rhythm. Another reason was to see men looking at her with appreciative eyes. After the whole Vincent fiasco she needed reassurance. The main one, though, was avoiding being on the apartment when he dropped down his rose.

The only problem was that the "wild party girl" behavior was starting to charge its price. They usually didn't come back home before 2 am and she was always so drunk that she could barely walk. Cat could feel her body's negative response to the few hours of sleep and the constant hangovers. Her reflexes were getting slower and she was having a hard time to concentrate on work.

Cat thought about her high school days, when she was carefree and irresponsible. Partying out all night and sleeping all afternoon had been a habit on those lost days. Her life before her mother's death was so different. Even her way to dress was different. When she looked at herself in the mirror before leaving to the clubs with Heather and Tess at night, she had a glimpse of that inexperienced girl that thought that life consisted on going to class, getting good grades to have a chance in a good college and dressing fabulously to impress the guys and make the girls jealousy. That girl didn't exist anymore and she knew it, but the sad woman inside of Catherine needed to be her for a while. She needed to have a little more time before going all responsible and adult again. Before having the courage to face Vincent again.

In the middle of that afternoon, her eyes were heavy and her vision kind of glassy. Cat knew she would have to stop that crazy avoidance technique. She thought about leaving the apartment again and staying at her father's house until the newlyweds came back from their honeymoon. She would talk to Heather the next day in the morning. She needed to be functioning properly, to be in shape so she could be efficient at work and that wouldn't happen if she didn't sleep well.

Not to mention, stop drinking. She never understood why people liked so much to get wasted. She never liked much that spinning sensation. And she definitely didn't like the hangover at all.

Plus, those nights weren't doing any good for her plans to meet someone. Not that she hadn't met anyone. On the contrary, she lost count of how many men had approached her. But every time a man hit on her in a interesting way and caught her attention, said man vanished in the air after a few drinks. It was like something was scaring them all off. At first, she thought it was just coincidence. After all, night clubs were always so full of people, it was easy to lost someone there.

Then, she started to notice a pattern. She started to talk with a guy, showed interest and the guy got bolder, as it should be in a flirt. But if the new guy got away from her to grab a drink or going to the bathroom he simply didn't come back. And that was starting to affect her currently already unstable self-esteem.

Was she really scaring all men off? What was she doing wrong? Was it her line of work? Was she so damaged by her recent heartbreak that she was looking desperate? Because men hated desperate women.

Anyway, she had decided that that would be the last night she would go out. In fact, she was only going out because she promised Heather they would go to a hot new club her sister's friends wouldn't shut up about.

Her decision to quit the clubs didn't imply that she had given up her project of meeting someone new. She was determined to find a substitute for Vincent – ignoring the twist in her stomach the thought gave her – in her heart. She just decided that it would be better if she resigned to on line dating sites and quiet bars, as she did before.

"There's no way in hell I'll go out tonight again, Cat! If I don't sleep eight hours for the next couple of nights, I'll just pass out on my desk. I don't think that would impress our dear co-workers – meaning Wolanski – _and _our boss very much. And you shouldn't go, too! You aren't looking that great today," Tess refused.

"Thank you for the compliment! Whatever. I'm just going because I promised Heather," the other woman replied.

"Suit yourself, but this new phase of yours is starting to affect work and that's not cool. At least, it's the weekend so you can catch up your sleep tomorrow, but I'm out!" Cat's partner closed the topic.

Yes, the weekend. A time to spend all day long without work's distraction, a time to have her mind completely free to think about her disastrous love life. Maybe she should make an appointment with a shrink and have him giving her some prescriptions that made her sleep the entire time. She chuckled to herself at that silly idea, deciding that it would be less complicated if she just went to her dad's place. Perhaps Vincent would have given up on her by the time she went back home again.

Looking herself in the mirror that night, smiling weakly at her younger sister, while Heather put the hair extension on the back of her head – her sister insisted on making her use it since the first night out – she thought to herself if going out was a good idea again. Maybe it was her conscience screaming at her that she wasn't that person anymore or maybe it was just some kind of "intuition". The case was that she really didn't want to go. But Heather was so excited, talking non stop about how great the night would be at that club that she didn't have the heart to deny the younger woman that last night out.

From the fire escape of the building next to hers, Vincent watched as the sisters got ready to yet another night out. Those past days had been torture for him, following the girls during their nightly activities. He observed them from afar, making sure they were safe, that no one would make them do anything they didn't want to. Especially his Catherine. He tried very hard to control the jealousy anger threatening to take over his senses and release the Beast inside of him every time a man approached her. It hadn't been easy. The will to rip apart every single male that dared to touch an inch of her silky skin was almost uncontrollable.

Right at that moment, he could swear he felt his eyes flashing yellow at the sight of her incredible beauty, knowing that he would have to endure yet another round of men pinning for what was his.

His Catherine looked stunning, wearing a pale gray dress, adorned with sparkling sequin in a darker tone of gray that formed a x patron on the cleavage and spiral patrons all along the body. He saw her putting long gray Vintage looking earrings. Her heavy make-up matched the look, showing up the lovely tan she got on her time out of New York, a peach tone tinting and marking her cheeks and an elaborate work of eye-shadow that made her eyes even more beautiful, with sparkling pale eye-shadow close to her eyebrows counterbalancing the dark one that was applied on the eyelids. A pale shade of pink covered her beautiful lips, making it look even more tempting.

Despite how beautiful she looked, she also looked tired. Exhausted, actually. All that party girl behavior was starting to get too much for her and he knew it. He was a trained doctor and an ex-soldier. He knew quite well what fatigue could do to a person, even when that person wasn't caring so much weight on their shoulders as his love was.

He understood her. Deep inside of him, he knew all her reasons. That was one of the most amazing things about them. Since the beginning they simply knew each other. She knew him so much that she had been capable of tracking him down that faithful night almost a month ago, even when he didn't leave any clue to where he was heading to behind. No one had ever understood him as she did. Never before he had knew someone as he knew her. Not even Alex.

It was clear as water to him that all that act was just her way to escape, to numb her pain through alcohol and fake laughing. Not once he saw a real smile coming from her lips during that time watching over her. The real smile coming from her kind heart that he knew all too well, the one that had hypnotized him since the first time he saw it.

Once again he criticized himself for his reckless behavior. Once again he wished he had thought better about what he was going to do and the consequences that his acts would have on Catherine and JT before he did it. If he hadn't been so thick-headed back then, she wouldn't be acting like that. If he hadn't been selfish again, she would be talking to him about her problems, they would be trying to overcome her heartbreak together. Hell, if he hadn't been so blind, she wouldn't have that kind of problems right now.

As it was, he was condemned to see her flirting with random guys and drinking like a silly teenager. He wondered how long it would last that phase and how much he would be able to endure it before snapping. The only thing that made him control himself while seeing her interacting with other men was his guilt. He knew that she was hurting because of him and that was his punishment.

The girls left the apartment and got into a cab. The night club wasn't that far away from their place so Vincent didn't have any trouble on following then from the rooftops.

The club was crowded. The dark lights were a perfect disguise for him. As long as he was careful to avoid the surveillance cameras, he wouldn't have any problem for being there. The loud music wasn't capable of diverging his attention to the alluring sound of her heartbeat.

She was talking with a random blond guy in the middle of the dance floor uninterestedly. Vincent could hear when the guy offered to get a drink for her, which she accepted with a fake smile. As soon as the guy turned away towards the bar, a song started to play. Catherine closed her eyes, swaying her hips in rhythm with its sexy beat. She seemed so lost in the sound, so consumed by its sensuality. It was an irresistible sight.

And he didn't resist. His feet moved at its own accord, leading him to her. He stood inches apart from her back, enchanted by her spell. The sensual beat changed all the sudden to an agitated mix of sounds exactly at the same time she turned on her heels and opened her eyes to face him, as if she had sensed him there, exactly like in her father's wedding.

Once again, they got lost in each other's gaze, unable to break the connection that united them. The blaring sound of the music didn't matter at the moment. They still were trapped in its firsts sensual accords.

That time Vincent didn't ask for her permission, as he did at the wedding. He simply grabbed her by the waist, pulling her body gently against his. And they started to sway together to the sound of their own desire.

**A/N: The song I imagined to the last scene is "Truth Be Known" by Atlas Plug. Check it out on YouTube. It's great!**

**If someone is curious about the look I pictured for Cat, take a look at the link below:**

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**This is kind of a cliff hanger, but it's not intentional. There's a lot of things to happen now and it wouldn't fit in one single chapter. **

**I'm sorry, but I have to scream! **

**THE KISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! **

**It was so worth waiting! It was so perfect, romantic and beautiful. Vincent's words took my breath away. And my Catherine standing her ground and not letting him slip away again was the most exciting thing ever! I'm so happy!**

**I won't talk about Heather! Since the beginning she was my favorite secondary character other than JT. So I understand that people won't like if I criticize her. **

**I don't want to offend anyone with my opinion about her behavior. The only thing I'll say is that I'm really disappointed with the writers. To have a character with such an amazing potential and reduce it to a mere obstacle to VinCat's relationship is so sad...**

**Thoughts? **

**See ya!**


	19. Dance Floor

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Dance Floor**

**Day Twenty One**

The loud and frenetic music blasting from the speakers around the club and the crowd surrounding them disappeared. Lost in an undefined space where there was only the spell of their locked eyes, Vincent and Catherine moved slowly, in synchrony with the rhythm of their own hearts. Every sway of her hips made him pull her soft, warm and perfumed delicate body a little bit closer to his large and hard own.

Vincent didn't dare to speak, despite desperately needing to voice all things locked in his heart, to beg for her forgiveness and a chance to win her love back. His Catherine was there, in his arms, staring at his eyes. Her own eyes reflecting an emotion so pure that was almost unbearable. Her discreet perfume mixed with the natural scent of her skin had the same effect on him that love potions had on men in fairy tales. He was intoxicated and dazzled. No other scent in the entire world could compare with the one emanating from her body.

After so long apart, felling each other's proximity was irresistible. His right hand left her waist and traced the length of her arm gently and slowly. He was so afraid to scare her, to lost that perfect moment, but there was nothing he could do to stop his hand to travel through the silkiness of her shoulder to the base of her neck, leaving a trail of burning warmth in its path.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Catherine knew that she shouldn't be inside the circle of his arms, that she should keep her distance and protect her heart. But she couldn't will herself to break free from the comfort his body provided, from the sense of safety his arms gave her.

She wanted more, she needed more. He pulled her against him inch by inch at every sway and she gave in to the emotion reflected in his mesmerizing hazel eyes. At that moment, she was just a willingly prey of a dominating alpha male, letting herself be guided by her most basic instincts, her reactions dictated by her need to be his, to be claimed, to get lost in love. He smelled like aftershave and something primitive, as an untouched forest after the rain and she couldn't get enough of that delicious scent.

Their bodies found each other in the mist of their living dream. Their hips, legs and torso molded together perfectly, as if they were pieces of an incomplete puzzle. But it wasn't enough. She buried her head in his chest, inhaling his primal scent deeply and he leaned his head, leveling his lips with her ear. Her arms encircled his waist while his hand was still caressing the space between her shoulder and her neck in a torturing circular motion.

Her hands found their way under his shirt and she scratched his back in a ghostly touch with the tip of her nails, hearing a low hiss right above her ear. The sound empowered her, making her bolder and she dig her fingers in his sensitive skin, squeezing the flesh under her palms in a delicate arousing massage.

He tightened his hold on her, not letting any space between their bodies while capturing her earlobe between his teeth and her entire body responded to the stimulus, trembling with excitement. Their glued bodies rubbed against each other and the point were his pelvis touched the bottom of her stomach allowed her to fell the effect their intimate contact was having on him.

Feeling his hard masculinity made her loose all her capacity of thinking, rending herself to that moment and to his touch. Maddened by lust, she bit his chest hard and he let out a strangled growl, grabbing her scalp with ferocity and pulling her head out of his chest rapidly, forcing her to face him. His eyes glowed yellow while he descend his lips towards hers.

"Catherine?" the blond guy that was talking to her earlier called, confusion tinting his voice.

They break apart in a rush, like a pair of kissing teenagers caught by their parents. Catherine turn rapidly towards the sound of the guy – what was his name again? - voice, finding Heather escorted by him and another man she didn't know, all three of them with their mouths open in astonishment.

"Heather, I..." she tried to explain herself.

"I think you won't want that drink, after all, isn't it?" the blond man said, obviously disappointed.

"No, of course I want it, hum..." Catherine stumbled in his name again.

"John! It's not that hard to remember!" he half complained, trying to sound cheerful.

Vincent took in the blond man's figure, trying to reign his first instinct to throw him to the other side of the dance floor. He took a deep breath, to clear his thoughts, afraid of doing something that could harm the precious woman in his arms and the rest of the unaware crow of people that surrounded them. That only served to make his nostrils capture a strange smell. It was coming from the bottle of beer in the man's – John, wasn't it? - hand. Unconsciously, he tightened his hold on Catherine's hips.

Then he noticed that Heather's companion seemed strangely at edge. The guy's heartbeat was erratic and invisible drops of sweat were forming on his forehead. His features told a tale of a man wanting nothing more than be out of that place and his eagerness didn't seem connected with the current tension created by Vincent's presence. Somehow, the genetic altered man knew his transpiration had little to do with the heat emanating from the bodies jumping up and down around the agitated dance floor. Something was really wrong with those guys.

A menacing growl sounded from Catherine's back, startling her and taking her out of the stupor induced by the momentary illusion of the connection she shared with the man she loved a few minutes ago. Only then Catherine realized that Vincent's hand was still gripping her hips tightly and her body was still half way turned towards him. Disentangling herself from his arms, she looked up at him with lost eyes.

"Vincent, what are you doing? Did you follow me here? Wasn't it enough what you put me through already?" the petite female yelled in a sad tone over the loud music.

"Catherine, it's not..." he started to justify himself, but Heather cut him mid sentence.

"Vincent? Cat, is this Vincent?" she asked, feeling more and more confuse by the second.

"He's nobody!" the older sister declared firmly.

Her next action shocked Vincent and Heather so much that they could only stare at her. She took two steps towards John, grabbed him by the neck and kissed him fiercely on the mouth. He instantly circled her body in a tight embrace, moaning in pleasure. When she pulled away and stared at his face, she saw a flattering awe expression.

"John, I think this club is over crowded! What do you say of going to some place quieter?" Catherine asked in a seductive tone.

She hated herself for doing that. The taste of John's mouth disgusted her and she felt dirty for some inexplicable reason. The frail girl inside of her wanted to hurt Vincent, to make him pay for all the pain he had inflicted on her. The rational woman argued that she was being pathetic because he couldn't care less if she kissed the whole wide world. But she was in no condition to reason between those two sides of her personality, she just wanted to get away from there, to run away from his dominating presence, to shield herself from the undeniable power he had over her.

"Heather, come on! Let's get our coats!" the older sister commanded, already turning towards the exit.

"But, Catherine...!" the other woman tried to argue, but her sister wouldn't have none of that.

"Let's go! Now!"

She stormed out of the dance floor, followed closely by her three companions, leaving Vincent immobilized and astonished behind.

**A/N: I think I have to explain Catherine's emotional state here! She's really not acting rationally, she's only reacting to deception over deception while trying to mend her broken heart.**

**Therefore, she can't see Vincent's real motive that it's winning her trust back. Bare in mind that she thinks he wouldn't simply dump her. She thinks he would try to do it gently, thus the roses.**

**Heather is the one seeing what's really going on because she's not directly involved on it. Too bad Catherine's not listening to her.**

**Don't hate Cat! We all had already screwed up big time at least once in life!**

**See ya!**


	20. A Little Gun - Part One

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**A Little Gun – Part One**

The cold winter outside the club made the four companions shrink inside their coats. Cat was grateful for it, though, because it made her heated flesh cool down a little. It also helped to erase the burning sensation Vincent's touch left on her body.

Her mind was in turmoil. Despite not having drank anything that night, she was exhausted from the previous ones and that encounter with the man that haunted her every thought had her trembling so much that she actually started to feel the world spinning around her.

Wouldn't she ever be able to move on? To be in his presence and not to get completely vulnerable and frail?

"We couldn't find a place around the club, so we had to park our car three blocks away," Heather's companion said.

Cat looked up at him surprised. They were already walking down the street and she hadn't notice, too caught up with the overwhelming sensation of Vincent's skin under her fingertips and with her struggle to forget about it. She hadn't really planned to go anywhere with those guys. She only said that to hurt Vincent and to find a easy way out of the club without him following her.

"You don't need to give us a ride home, Robert! We live nearby, we can take a cab. It's no problem," Heather replied, trying to be polite on ditching the guys.

At first, she had thought that Robert was cute, but he turned simply possessive after just thirty minutes of conversation. She was actually trying to come up with an excuse to get rid of him and his friend when she found Cat entangled in Vincent's arms. Now, the only thing she wanted was to have her sister alone so they could talk about all that absurd situation.

"Oh, it won't be any problem to have two beautiful women with us," John affirmed.

Something about the way the blond man said that perfectly harmless phrase made an alarm ring inside Cat's mind. Since her mind was so focused on Vincent and his last display of incoherent behavior, she was merely walking along with the others, not really paying attention to where they were going. All the sudden, she found herself heading towards a really dark alley.

For the first time, she actually stopped to pay attention to the two men escorting them. John was lean and not very tall, despite being taller than her, but Robert figure was massive.

Her self-defense training kicked in and she assessed them as opposers. She certainly could handle John by herself, even though he obviously worked out, but if something happened, she couldn't take care of the two of them while protecting Heather. She cursed mentally her sister again for refusing to take self-defense classes as Cat had been begging her to do since their mother's death.

The detective in her took quick action, reaching for her purse to retrieve the little gun she always carry with her. It wasn't as efficient as her work gun, but it gave her a sense of security and control that was comforting.

"I think it's better if we just take a cab. Thank you for your offer, but we're really close to home," the older woman said with a smile, trying to pretend that everything was fine.

Grabbing her by the waist, John pulled her to the dark alley. He had a mischievous and lascivious smile on his face. By the corner of her eyes, she noticed Robert gripping a struggling Heather by her wrists and pulling her to the alley, too.

"Oh, come on, juicy thing! I'm sure you're dying to continue what you were doing on the dance floor with that guy just now! You must be all worked up by now, don't you?" the shorter man said with a sick insinuating voice next to her ear.

Cat panicked at the sight of Heather in danger. She pulled the gun out of the purse, but she hadn't been able to do it quickly enough. She could feel her body reactions slower than normal, her movements not as fluid as they usually were due to her tiredness. John grabbed her wrist roughly and twisted it hard, making her loose her grip on the little weapon.

Cat punched John's stomach with her free hand. Although she couldn't get a proper angle to hit it very hard, it gave her enough liberty to turn and try to get her gun, but she could only see it rolling on the ground and landing a few inches from Robert's feet. He picked it up fast and pointed it to Heather's head. Both women froze in place instantaneously.

"Now, let's us all calm down! You don't want to see your little sister's pretty face destroyed because you couldn't shut your stupid mouth, do you, Catherine?" Robert said, spiting her name in disgust. "We're gonna to have real fun now! Don't worry! We all will enjoy it very much!"

John laughed maliciously seeing Cat's blank face, knowing that both women wouldn't do anything that could jeopardize the other's life. He relaxed his tight grip on her body, rubbing his own against her while pulling her dress up to her waist. Feeling his arousal against her lower back filled her with an indescribable repugnance and she felt bile rising to her throat, but he shut her eyes tightly and composed herself again.

She wouldn't give him the pleasure to see her vomiting or begging him to stop. Rapists took their pleasure out of theirs victims fear and she would be damned if she would give them that satisfaction.

"Ca... Cat!" Heather called in a desperate whisper.

Instinctively, the older woman opened her eyes, unable to ignore that voice, unable to control her despair at the sight of her beloved sister crying with a gun pointed to her temper and a filthy man running his free hand all over her body possessively.

Robert took his time groping Heather, delighted with her obvious panic. It had never been so easy to take a girl. He had been worried when John decided to have the two of them because it was too risky. John couldn't resist to have them both, though. He said that they were too alike, that it would be like taking twins and that was hot as hell. But dominating them had been really easy since they were trying to protect each other.

Robert reticence was based on their previous "experiences". They never did something as reckless as taking two girls before. They usually took only one woman at time, drugging her with sedatives on their drinks to be safe, and those two hadn't drank anything before that big guy appeared. For a moment, Robert thought that he would ruin their plans, but his presence ended up helping them since the older sister seemed determined to run away from him.

"Heather, look at me! Don't scream, okay? Just look at me! It would be over soon, okay? Forget about all the rest, just concentrate on my face!" Cat commanded firmly, but her voice trembled several times.

The men's laughed echoed through the dark alley. Cat heard the sound of John's belt hitting the ground and saw Robert opening his pants with his free hand.

Cat felt the desperate urge to close her eyes again and remember Vincent's gentle touch over body. She was sure that memory would have the power to take her to a beautiful place while enduring all of that. But she couldn't do that. Heather needer her.

**A/N: I think it's safe to stop counting the days now that we reached this point of the story. I just wanted you to follow Vincent dropping roses at Catherine's windowsill every day. **

**I know that you hate chapters in two parts, guys! Don't kill me! It's just that the chapter would be waaaay too long if I continued writing...**

**See ya!**


	21. A Little Gun - Part Two

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**A Little Gun – Part Two**

"And the winner of the stupidest man on Earth of the year goes to Vincent Keller. Genetic altered man, graduated ER doctor and ex-combatant on Afghanistan War, he's responsible for destroying any kind of possible future with the woman he adores in less than a month. That's certainly a mark that would be difficult to overcome," Vincent thought sarcastically, imagining a TV host announcing an award.

He remained frozen in the middle of the dance floor long after Catherine and her friends left, astonished and lost. His capacity to do the wrong thing at the worse time never ceased to amaze him.

Instead of being rational and careful when he finally managed to get close to his Catherine, he let his hunger for her overcome his mind and let himself be cared away by his animalistic side again. He felt it coming to surface, felt it raising its head and sniffing his mate's scent and he wasn't able to restrain its instinct. Everything had been so overwhelming. The music, the heat on the dance floor, her warmth, her delicious scent and that same illusion that they were lost is their own world he always had when they touched. There were just the two of them again.

During those brief minutes she had surrendered to his touch and he felt like he could do everything he wanted, he felt that he could actually have her, that she really belonged to him and they had a chance to be together again. In that blissful time he was completely happy.

But that moment slipped through his fingers as everything else in his life, even though he tried to hold on tightly to it, because he hadn't stayed in control and had trespassed the boundaries.

In his defense, he was starving. Almost a month without being in her presence, being forced to watch her from a safe distance in order to respect her limits, having to restrain the "Beast" instinct to claim its mate, to ignore his need and swallow his pride an the scream trapped in his throat every time he saw her violating herself to compensate the pain she felt for what he did to her. And she had been so responsive, he could tell that she was as engrossed as he in their physical contact.

He didn't understand what had happened or why she always reacted like waking up from a dream when someone approached them and not even why she was so adamantly decided to not even talk to him. Honestly, he didn't even know why she still was so mad. He understood how much he had hurt Catherine and JT with his desertion and he regretted it deeply. But his friend had already forgave him because they talked about what happened and got over it. Why couldn't she at least hear what he had to say? Couldn't she see that he was trying to redeem himself? That he missed her? That he just wanted an opportunity?

He couldn't even say a new opportunity because they actually never had any. When things started to fall in place, when they started to open up to each other and he started to believe that Catherine corresponded his feelings, those blackouts episodes happened and he panicked, running away like the fool he was.

The war veteran thought he was protecting the only two persons in the world left for him to love, desperate with the simple thought of what could happen if he lost control around them. Being absolutely honest, his worst fear was loosing their love. He could live the rest of his life alone with the memory of their affection, but living the same amount of time – short or long as it might be – with the image of their fear, their disgust in his mind or knowing that they didn't love him anymore would be unbearable. He gladly would rend himself to his persecutors if that ever happened. Thus his decision to leave.

Little did he know that leaving would be the easiest way to really ruin the bond he had with Catherine. A bond forged with patience, honesty, half hidden attraction and months of mutual acquaintance. Naively, he thought that bond was as strong as the one he shared with JT.

Deep inside of him, he knew he wouldn't be strong enough to stay away, though. He knew he would come back someday to watch over Catherine and JT from afar, hidden in the shadows of the city. He also knew that he wouldn't stand to see his Catherine in other man's arms. He tried to be realist and berated himself firmly for it, but, deep inside, he arbored the beautiful fantasy that she wouldn't move on and would wait for him forever.

He had taken her breaking up with Evan because she was in love with him as a sign that her love matched his. An eternal love. She had just proved his theories and fantasies wrong, though, making very clear that she had given up on him already.

Kissing a man, a random man in front of him like that was... Low? Mean? Hurtful? The dark haired man didn't even know how to classify it. Because _it was_ a random guy, right? He watched over her all that time and he never had seen that man before. Also, she didn't seem interested on him at all when they were talking before. Therefore, he couldn't be someone important, could he?

Suddenly, he remembered the strange smell coming from the beer that John guy was ready to offer to Catherine and snapped out of that shocked state. There was some kind of drug on those drinks, meaning that those men weren't good company. Despite what just happened, he couldn't simply turn his back on the girls and walk away. He had to find them and be sure they were save before heading home, where he could mourn his lost.

The genetic altered man stormed out of the night club, trying to catch Catherine's faint smell, an arduous task due to the odor of people, drink and pollution around. A familiar tingling on the back of his head, the same one that indicated where his brother's names were in the Memorial, made him turn right and walk down the street. Her smell was stronger in that path. He felt a disturbing urgency to walk faster and his pulse accelerated, as if he knew something was about to happen.

He heard muffled cries coming from a dark alley. Catherine's scent was coming from there, her unmistakable heartbeat was fast and Heather was crying! They were in danger!

Adrenaline kicked in and his inhuman side took control of his body immediately. In a blink, he was at the alley's entrance, seeing those men laughing at the two scared women. With his recently acquired night vision, he saw that John guy holding his mate while her dress was up and taking his pants off and the other man rubbing himself on her sister. He heard John's belt hitting the pavement and uncontrollable rage took over his rational thoughts. His altered form lunged at the men viciously.

Heather watched in horror as a humanoid creature attacked the rapists. It could easily be confounded with a man, but its features were leathered, distorted and no man emitted those kind of sounds or could move that fast.

It seemed unreal to her to see the action unfolding before her, as if she was just watching an odd movie. She caught herself admiring the inhuman creature that was attacking the men. There was a kind of beauty in its fluid, rapid movements. Almost as if there was a rational mind behind it.

It grabbed Robert's shirt from behind, shaking him violently to make him drop the gun before throwing him a few meters ahead of them as if he weighted nothing. By the time Heather's aggressor hit the hard ground – knocking his head and passing out – it was already by the other woman's side, pushing John away from her, making him hit the closest wall flat on his back so hard that little pieces of concrete fell down the wall around him. The criminal slided flaccidly to the ground while the creature roared.

Vincent was blind by rage. The simple thought of what those filthy men intended to do with his love was too much for him. He wanted nothing more than to rip them apart and he jumped in front of the one that dared to put his hands on his mate with his claws exposed, ready to cut his throat.

"NO!" his Catherine yelled, sounding desperate.

Her tone, more than her order, caught his attention immediately and he stopped mid action. He turned to her, confused and worried, sensing her fear. Adrenaline was running freely up and down his body and he took some steps towards her, roaring loudly, frustrated with her incomprehensible attitude. She was scared, something that never happened before and it hurt him to hear her heart beating fast with her fear.

She was the most precious thing in the world for him. He would never hurt her and she knew that. So why was she scared?

"Cat! Get out of the way!" Heather shouted, calling their attention.

The younger sister had the gun on her hands, shaking visibly, but keeping a strong hold on the weapon, pointing it at them.

"Heather, what are you doing?" Cat replied in the same urgent tone, shocked.

Vincent roared again while approaching his mate, sounding more like a dog begging for its owner's attention than a beast in rage, but only Catherine was able to hear the difference. To Heather's ears, it only seemed like a wild animal ready to pounce its victim. The short haired woman didn't hesitated, running to them and putting herself protectively in front of her sister, adrenaline and fear dictating her actions.

"This thing is going to attack you!" she yelled.

"Heather, stop!" Catherine ordered, trying to take the gun out of her hands.

Heather pushed her out of the way violently, not paying attention to the amount of force she put on the gesture. Luckily, she wasn't too strong and Catherine only stumbled a few steps behind of her.

It all happened really fast and Vincent just stood still, watching the sisters fighting and not understanding. A part of him knew that there wasn't a real threat coming from the little thing in front of him. Even in the fog of his rage, he was aware that the little thing was something precious, something to treasure, not to harm. He knew that the little thing was important to his mate. Therefore, important to him.

But the little thing had a gun, was yelling with his love and threatening them and his basic instincts were telling him to protect himself and the woman he loved. He was struggling to remain in control, giving time to Catherine to calm her sister down, but the will to rip those men apart was still pushing his body forward. All that tension concentrate in that little time made him dizzy. He shook his head vehemently, trying to clear his thoughts.

The gesture scared Heather even more and she pointed the gun directly to his heart, determined. Catherine was frantic, jumping in front of the gun. Heather let a terrified scream out, looking wide eyed at her sister's crazy action. The older woman took a deep breath and, deliberately, stepped calmly behind, getting closer to the animal, her hands up, creating a physical barrier between Heather and the creature.

"Heather, stop! He'll never hurt us!" she affirmed slowly, in a soothing tone.

"Cat, what are you doing? This thing is dangerous. It's going to attack us! Didn't you see what it did with those guys? We have to kill it!" the younger sister yelled hurriedly.

"Stop calling him 'a thing'! He's not an 'it'!" Catherine ordered energetically.

Heather looked at her utterly confused, her entire body trembling, witnessing her sister turning to the creature with her sweetest expression and putting her hands delicately on its rustic face.

"W... What? Cat?" she stuttered in panic.

"He's not an 'it', Heather! It's him! He's Vincent!" Catherine turned her head to say, with a hint of anger. Then, her eyes went back to the creature and her tone was the sweetest her sister ever heard, "My Vincent!"

"Vin-Vincent? Cat, I... Wha... What d-do you mean...Vincent? This is Vincent? This is the guy in the club? This is the man you're in love with? The same one that leaves roses at your windowsill every night? Is that his disease? Turning into a monster is a disease?" the younger woman babbled, almost incoherently.

Catherine sighed, taking her hands from the "Beast's" face and turning completely to face her shocked sister.

"Heather, please, you need to calm down! I'll explain everything later, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this. You can't tell anything about Vincent. Not even to dad."

The younger woman open her mouth to reply, but they were interrupted by the sound of Vincent's body collapsing to the ground behind Catherine. The older woman turned to him quickly, alarmed with his loss of consciousness.

"Vincent?" she yelled.

Catherine knelled down next to him to see if he was hurt. His features were already softening and changing back to human. She checked his pulse and breathing, searching for any injure on his body, but nothing seemed wrong and she thanked God for it. His unconsciousness had her worried sick, though, because that could be one of those fugue episodes he had been having and she knew he couldn't control his actions when he was like that.

Heather didn't know what to do or think. There it was her responsible and sensible older sister, hovering over a man that had transformed into a monster right before her eyes and, not only she wasn't a little bit afraid of it, but was also calling it by the name of the man she was so in love that she couldn't talk about him without crying.

Catherine crawled to her purse, not caring that the pavement was filthy, and retrieved her phone in a hurry, speed-dialing JT. He answered on the second ring, sounding anxious.

"Cat?"

"JT, I need your help. Vincent passed out in beast form. He seems fine, but he attacked two men that were threatening me and I can't leave them here unconscious to take care of him."

"Text me the address. I'm on my way!"

She texted the address quickly, still keeping one eye on Vincent's pale face. She called Tess and said she needed her help because they had been attacked. It was a risk to involve Tess on that, but she couldn't leave Heather alone with those guys while waiting for JT. Then, she turned to her sister with pleading eyes.

"Heath, I need your help! My friend is coming to help Vincent, but I have to report those two criminals. I can't risk to have anyone finding out about him, specially the police. We have to move him, to take him out of here, please!"

Heather was terrified, shocked and frozen in place, but she couldn't deny her sister when she had that kind of despair in her voice. Together, they took the man's unconscious form and took him to the next alley, after verifying that it was empty, too. The task wasn't easy since he was heavy and Heather wasn't used to carry weight. Catherine told her to go back to the other alley and watch the two men, knowing that Tess was on her way there. Although she was pretty sure they wouldn't wake up any time soon, she thought it would be best to be safe.

JT arrived as soon as Heather left and took Vincent to the warehouse, after verifying that he was only sleeping and having Cat promise to go see them when the rapists got arrested.

Only after certifying that JT was at a fair distance from them Cat had the will to call Joe and tell him how she knocked down two rapists with Heather's help. She managed to come back to Heather's side before Tess arrival, which was such a relieve. It would be hard to explain what she was doing while Heather was alone with two criminals.

Everything passed in a blur after her colleagues from the precinct arrived to arrest John and Robert. Cat already expected the nightmare of filling reports, the interrogation that followed and all the things necessary to guarantee that those two would remain in jail and wouldn't harm any other woman. The two women spent hours in an exhaustive marathon of statements and carefully chosen half truths.

The only thing she was afraid was that they started to talk about a beast attacking them, but when John tried to tell the officers about it, Heather jumped on, mockingly saying that he just didn't want to admit that he was defeated by the same women he wanted to dominate. Cat was taken by surprise with her younger sister's wisdom again and felt so proud of her strength and gumption. Heather was just like that, always surprising her in the most unpredictable moments.

It was past four in the mourning when they finally were able to get out the precinct. Cat sent Heather home, promising her to tell everything that was going on. She had to see how Vincent was. It was too risky trying to contact JT while she was inside the precinct. But even if she could do it, it wouldn't be enough. She had to see by herself if he was all right.

The warehouse was quiet when she got there. JT was in front of the TV, but the sound was low and his head was bobbing slightly. He was obviously fighting sleep waiting for her.

"JT?" she called in a whisper, feeling bad for disturbing his rest.

He jumped instantly, looking a little on the edge. He smiled weakly when noticing that she was what had woke him up.

"Thank God! I was worry sick! Couldn't you have called to let me know how you were and if everything was all right or not?" he blunted.

"Sorry, JT, but I didn't want to risk any exposure. It was bad enough explaining how I managed to get rid of those two guys," she explained, looking around tentatively. "How is he?"

"He's fine! We think he passed out due to the stress and nothing more."

"Good!"

The brunette shifted on her feet, not knowing what to say and feeling extremely awkward.

"Catherine!" Vincent's voice sounded behind her.

Her heartbeat went sky-high. She wanted so much to see him with her own eyes, but actually hearing his voice was so painful that she thought about running away without looking back. She wasn't a child, though, and she would face him. So she turned to him. He looked stressed, but healthy and she felt a little better. That was all that mattered.

"Vincent, you don't have to worry about those men. I managed to get them arrested and it turns out that we weren't their first victims. We're calling some women we think that can recognize them as their rapists and I'm sure they won't come out the jail any time soon. Thank you for helping me and my sister. It seems like you're always saving me," she said with a sad smile.

"Catherine, I..." he started to say, but she didn't want to hear whatever he had planned to say to make her feel better.

"Vincent, you don't have to say anything! You don't own me anything! Please, stop following me. You might be afraid of me turning you in, but I want you to know that I'll never do anything to harm you. I'll always help you, I'll always care about you. Too bad that that doesn't change anything. I have to go now. Good night!"

"Catherine, wait!"

She was already at the door, moving faster than ever. She ran away from there without looking back, before she cracked in front of him. He had tried to stop her, but she just didn't pay any attention to his pledges and he gave up, his heart breaking a little at each step she took away from him. He couldn't force her to accept his presence anymore. He couldn't deny her anything. Even if giving what she wanted meant pulling himself away from her life for good.

Catherine tossed and turned in bed restlessly the rest of the night, tears wetting her pillows in a constant flow while the first lights of a new day spread lazily through the window. She couldn't forget the feeling of his body under her fingertips and the smell of his skin and that memory was torture, knowing that it was really over, that he wouldn't be in her life anymore.

Slowly, she turned to the window with her eyes closed, not wanting to look at it because she was afraid to confirm what she already knew. She stayed in that position for a long time, letting her tears freely fall down her sheets. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes at last and looked.

There wasn't any rose on her windowsill that morning.

**A/N: I'm sorry for the late update. This chapter was really a pain to write. I had all the images in my head for quite some time, but I just couldn't write it down. Every time I tried, it sounded more awful then the last one. It turns out that I kinda like the result now so I'll leave it like that, otherwise I'll never past this point on the story.**

**I hope you like it!**

**See ya!**


	22. Breakfast at Catherine's

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Breakfast at Catherine's**

In the morning, Heather walked straight to the kitchen with a determinate look on her face. The events of the previous night had her positively pissed. She just couldn't believe Cat had kept that to herself all that time and that they had to go through that crazy situation just because she was being irrational.

Her sister was seating in the counter having a coffee and looking miserable. The sight almost made her regret her irritation, but she didn't spend hours lying shamelessly to police officers – some of them incredible interesting, by the way – to be understanding and forgiving. Last night they didn't talk because Cat arrived really late and she was already asleep, but she wouldn't allow her sister any more procrastination. She wanted answers. And she wanted them now.

"I'm waiting!" she stated, her arms crossed over her chest and a serious face.

"I'm sorry!" Cat said in a weak voice.

"I don't want apologies, silly! If I win a penny every time I hear that, I'll be rich by the end of the year. So drop it! I want the truth and the whole story. So split it!" the younger sister demanded.

"At this point, I don't know what's is true or not, Heather," Cat stated sadly. "You deserve to know the whole story and I know that. It's just that I've been keeping this secret for so long that I simply don't know what to say, where to start."

"So? It's not my problem if you got lost in your own maze of lies. I told you I want the whole story and I don't care if we spend the entire morning talking about it," the younger woman shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't have plans, anyway."

The brokenhearted sister looked up at Heather, feeling bad for having underestimated her all that time. She had been extremely cautious in the precinct, never losing focus and being smart enough to flirt with the right guys to get out of the most uncomfortable questions. It could be a dangerous card to play if those two criminals hadn't any other victims, but she had to admit that her little sister didn't sound so little anymore. Not during their interrogation and surely not at the moment.

"Heath, you need to understand that this is very serious and very dangerous. Anything I say, anything at all, even the smallest detail can put your life in danger. I know you don't want an apology, but I only hide Vincent from you until now because I was afraid to put you in a situation you can't handle. I'm a cop, I know how to defend myself and I was trained to be suspicious while you're this open-hearted person that hates to walk a mile. You have to be sure you can handle this before I go any further. You can't talk about this, you can't research about this, you can't even think about this in public and that's not as easy as it might seen. So you can walk away now and be satisfied knowing that I'm sad because Vincent is not in my life anymore and never talk about this again and I'll do my best to get over him and move on with my life or you can know everything and have to watch you every move. Personally, I want you to choose the first alternative."

The short haired girl took her time pouring coffee in a mug and taking some crackers and jam to eat, thinking about what her sister said. If any other person said those things to her, she would just tell whoever it was to stop being so melodramatic. In fact, she had already told that to her sister. After seeing what she saw the previous night, though, she knew that Cat wasn't exaggerating.

Of course, putting things that way would make anyone with half a brain choose to turn around and forget about that whole thing. Being strictly rational, though, she concluded that choosing to pretend that nothing had happened simply wouldn't do any good to her. She already knew Vincent wasn't normal and there was something really dangerous about that, so the best thing would be to know exactly what was happening. That way, she would be more prepared to whatever that danger was.

"I want to know," Heather whispered with an apprehensive expression.

"You know I thought a Beast saved me from the guys that murdered mom, right? Well, actually, the whole world know that," Cat laughed humorlessly.

The younger sister just nodded, wide eyed and intrigued.

"Turns out that I'm not that crazy, after all. It was Vincent transformed. That night he looked like you saw him yesterday."

"Oh, my God!" the younger sister murmured shocked. "Wait! How...? You knew you were right?"

"No, no! He was following mom that night and when he saw those men killing her, he saved me. Back then, he didn't have any control when he changed and he didn't want to risk exposure so he just took off after killing them and the shrinks I saw at the time convinced me that I was delusional due to the stress," Cat clarified.

"Good! This whole thing is mess up enough the way it is. I don't need to add years of lies to it," Heather said relieved, then she fired questions at Cat frenetically. "So how did you find him? And how the hell he can change into a monster? Is he some kind of mutant, like the X-Men? Why was he following mom? How did you end up falling for something like that? Aren't you even a bit disgusted? Just thinking about that thing makes me shriver."

Cat actually got a little dizzy, trying to follow her sister's trail of thoughts, flinching when she called Vincent a monster.

"First of all, don't call him a monster, a thing, it or any other thing in that sense. He's a decent man that was betrayed by the same country he was trying to defend. He's kind and heroic and you don't know how much he despise himself for what he is. He doesn't need or deserve to be referred as less than human," she said fiercely, profoundly offended by the way the other girl was talking about the man she loved.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, my bad!" her sister apologized, looking like a kid caught being naughty.

"And no, he's not a mutant. He joined the Army after his two brothers were killed in the Towers and was sent to Afghanistan, where his unit served as guineas pig in an experiment with animal DNA, trying to create a super soldier. The experiment went wrong and the agency behind it killed all of them, but Vincent, in an attempt to hide their mistakes. He managed to escape and has been in hiding ever since because his creators are still hunting him. If they find him, they'll kill him and anyone else that knows about him."

"I don't think going to a crowded night club is exactly hiding," Heather commented.

"It isn't, but since we met, Vincent started to get bolder and to get out of the shadows to help me," Cat explained and her sister didn't miss the dreamily way she said that.

"Help you? What do you mean? Why would he help you?"

"I was on a case about six months ago. A woman was found death and Vincent's DNA was all over her, which we though was a mistake. It was impossible because he's declared dead. I followed a lead that took me to JT and found Vincent hidden at his place. He had tried to resuscitate the woman, but it was too late; she had been poisoned. At the same time, I started to dig on mom's case again. Long story short, the same people that ordered mom's dead are the ones that are hunting him, they tried to kill me to erase evidence _again_ and he saved my life _again_. Since then, he'd been helping me solve some cases and he saved me a thousand more times after that. He helps me because it makes him feel useful and necessary. The experiment made him stronger and enhanced his senses. That comes in handy sometimes."

"Okay!" Heather said, stretching the word to show that she was still processing everything.

"We don't know why he was following mom, it's most likely we'll never know. He doesn't remember much of the experiment and doesn't really know why, but he just had this urge to follow her and thought that it might help him to get answers. By the time he reached us, it was too late for mom, but he saved me. Since that night, he checked on me every year, just to see if I was okay. He said it reassured him that he was capable of doing something good. That's why I fell for him, that's what I see in him, Heather! He has such a good heart, he wants so much to help and to be a better person. I could never be disgusted by him, no matter what form he's in or how worse he can become. I know what's inside of him and that's what I love."

There was a kind of passion on her expression that Heather had never seen before. Cat simply glowed talking about him. Still, she couldn't understand how her sister could see past all those things, all that heaviness to fall in love so completely with that Vincent guy. Of course, she saw how handsome he was, had also witnessed first hand the way he looked at her and was sure that, if she found a guy that looked at her that way, she would be shaken, too. But it all seemed so impossible and dangerous...

"And what you're going to do now? You can't keep ignoring him, Cat. That's not right! You should talk to him and see his side of this. All I know is that he pushed you away and you're running from him ever since," she said, cutting Cat off when she tried to interrupt."Hey, you already had your chance to talk and I'm trying to make a point here! I understand all your reasons to hide from him, but you're being irrationally stubborn. The guy keeps following you around town and giving you roses every day. It sounds to me like someone that is really trying to change your former impression on him. You don't have to forgive him if you don't want to, but the least you own _yourself_ is to hear what he has to say."

Cat's expression fell instantly. There was something Heather still didn't know.

"There was no rose in my window today and there will never be another one anymore, Heather. When I went to check on him, I told him to stop following me and cut our bond for good. It's really over now," the older woman stated sadly.

"What? But you love him!" Heather complained, taken by surprise.

"I do, but it's time to move on and remember that I don't live in a fairy tale," she responded with a trembling voice. "Heath, I know you must have a lot of questions, but what I told is the whole story and the truth, like you wanted. There's no point on keep talking about this and I really don't want to do it anymore. It's over and I need to put myself together again. Dad called and asked us to have lunch with him and Brooke so I'm going to take a bath and get ready, okay? Please, let it go!"

"Okay, Catherine, I will!" she answered, watching her sister turning to her bedroom. She complemented in her thoughts, though. _"For now!"_

**A/N: People might be confuse with this chapter. Just to remind you, Cat doesn't know about her mom's involvement with Muirfield. She was in Aruba when Vincent remembered Vanessa and they didn't talk after that. **

**I'm so excited now! The next chapter will have an awesome surprise for you, dear readers! It's something that made me really proud of my story and made me also really happy. I hope you like it as much as I did.**

**See ya!**


	23. An Unexpected Guest

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**An ****Unexpected ****Guest**

_**The title of this chapter refers both to the fact that it was guest-written by Ksana, aka TaleNeverTold, and to the actual unexpected guest in one very-famous-but-meant-to-be-a-secret warehouse.**_

A knock on the door.

JT looked at Vincent and Vincent looked back with the same surprise written all over his face. Since Catherine was no longer on speaking terms with them they haven't had that much guest to expect anyone. Especially this early in the evening – JT just got back from university…

JT squinted his eyes and nodded back to the door hinting that Vincent should have HEARD their guest's arrival. Vincent shrugged:

- Sorry, man, my bad. But it can't be that terrible – it's a female, based on the scent. But not Catherine… I would've recognized her…

Vincent sighed and JT murmured something that sounded suspiciously like "pathetic" and went to open the door… How bad can it be if there was a single girl standing behind that door?

And then there was one of those moments they show in movies – when times moves so slowly you can see every detail… Tiny lady with spiked hair breaking into past flabbergasted JT once he opened the door… and advancing on Vincent with a menacing look on her face… coming closer… aiming a wide blow… and slapping Vincent so hard his head swung to the side a little!

JT made an indistinguishable noise of horror and grabbed a tranquilizer gun… just in case… But then he saw Vincent's face and went even more surprised – he looked as guilty as if it was him who hit the girl and not the other way around!

JT shouted:

- Hey, whatcha think you're doing?! Who the hell are you anyways?!

Not that JT was planning for it, but since he has already had a gun in his hands it looked like he was pointing it to the girl… like threatening her… But she didn't even take a glance in JT's direction massaging her hand – it must've hard to hit that iron jaw of super soldier! But Vincent noticed and tried warning JT about the gun:

- Hey, man, thanks, but I can handle it…

"It" has raised her head and looked at JT – really looked at him for the first time since she came. Her expression went all lovely and smiley when she extended her hand to JT:

- Hi! Sorry, I'm so rude… I'm Heather, Catherine's younger sister. Nice to meet you!

Well, that explained few things but raised even more questions! SHE should've known better than do this!

- Rude indeed! What the hell were you thinking storming in like that and hitting Vincent! He could've…

JT's voice trailed away not sure of how much the girl knew and understood about Vincent's… condition.

Heather looked at Vincent with interest and then looked back to JT while asking:

- What? Beast out on me? Like that thing he did with those guys?

Vincent swallowed loudly remembering events of that dreadful night… How Heather was pointing a gun at him and Catherine stood between them to protect him.

He mumbled to himself: "Geez, I am genetically induced uncontrollable monster, yet the only people who are not afraid of me are science nerd, tiny fairy and her even tinier little sister... I just don't get it!"

Heather continued her assessment talking to JT as if Vincent did not exist at all…

- You know, once Catherine told me to stop dating a guy because he felt "wrong" to her. I rebelled, she brought our parents into this and I was SO mad with her! Only few weeks later we'd found out that he was prosecuted for attempted rape…

She breathed out a sad sigh and said with a reassuring smile:

- So if Cat says that this guy won't touch me – beast or not – I will go with that. I've seen him do things… - she shrugged – but Cat says I can trust him to protect me… and Cat is never wrong about these things.

This girl spoke an awful lot for a complete stranger she was to both of them, especially to JT. But it kinda felt natural – to have her chatter (mindless at times) bouncing of the walls of their bachelors lair. JT even got lost in her little stories of times when Catherine's "third eye for the bad guys" saved Heather from trouble. Boy, was she looking for trouble? Too many stories for such a young lady!

Vincent's thunder-like voice has cut through her speech:

- Heather, is Catherine all right?! Does she need me?! Why have you come?!

He was in a verge of sprinting out of the building not really waiting for Heather to answer – he was so engulfed with a fear that something has happened to his Catherine… but then why would Heather be so calm albeit sheepish? She stopped him with her rough words:

- Oh, Big Gray Wolf spoke! Yes, you are spot on! She is NOT all right, and I came exactly to see if she will need you after all!

Vincent looked appalled:

- What do you mean – came to SEE? What there's to see?

Heather sounded disappointed:

- Geez, I was hoping those experiments added you some brains to go with muscles… but nope, as average as any other given man!

JT interjected roughly stepping in between Heather and Vincent:

- Hey, Tinkerbell, back off! You ain't going anywhere with a string of insults! Unless this was the only reason to show up here – to scream and shout and fuss and be completely useless!

Heather stepped back assessing JT – really looking at him for the first time. She smiled a wide genuine smile – something warm and relieved:

- Relax, Little John, it's OK. I can see now that there's at least one sane person around this guy so there's hope…

- Hope?! – roared Vincent, - Hope for WHAT? Your sister wants nothing to do with me! She ignores me, she made a public "moving on" act, and she rejected me so many times that I already lost the count! How am I supposed to hope here?!

Heather may have been small… but she was vicious! Especially when it was about protecting her sister!

- Oh, really?! Who said anything about hope for you, huh? I said there's a hope to mend my sister's broken heart! And I came to see if you are worthy of it!

Vincent broke. He set down on a chair and bowed down his head, his voice empty and lifeless:

- Who am I to mend her heart… I'm the one who broke it.

Heather looked almost sympathetic for a moment but then she'd remembered that he actually did break her sister's heart:

- Well, from such a big guy who beasts out once in a while I'd expect something more… manly… than just hand folding and profound sulking. Do you even care about her at all?

These words were explosive to Vincent's naked nerves:

- Do I CARE? Do I breathe? Do I wake up every moment to think of her? Do I even go to sleep in the first place! I dread sleeping because I dream only of her and in the morning everything goes away as a fog! I'm going mad because of what I could have and lost because of my own stupidity!

And then Vincent broke again, clutching his hair, yanking it so hard he could've easily ripped a chunk of it… He sighed:

- I'd wish she would let me explain… if not the hope – she could've granted me absolution. Is that too much to ask?

Heather squatted in front of him, trying to look him in the eyes:

- You know… I lied. I never thought of "testing" you – if my sister loves you it's a proof enough for me that you are worthy of her love. She's very insightful in these things – for both our sakes. And if she was able to look past… your alter ego… - Heather shivered a bit - to see something good in you… then it must be something REALLY good.

Vincent raised his head and she saw a tiny bit of light in his eyes. He whispered:

- Then WHY did you come?

- To see if you are willing to fight for her. To see if you love her as much as she does you. But… but you seem so… powerless. Why?

Vincent shook his head unable to form words. That's when JT offered his insightful explanation:

- He loves her. He is crazy about her. But… he doesn't feel himself worthy of her in the first place.

Vincent looked at his best friend, at first with an expression that said clearly he thought JT was betraying him, but then he thought it through and nodded – slowly, distantly. He stood up and walked away followed by Heather's questioning and JT's understanding gaze.

Heather's head turned to JT, her expression confused:

- Did he just… walked out on me?

- Yeah! He does this awfully regularly for my liking, but I forgive him this time. The guy just lost the most important thing in his life!

- OK, Little John, tell me, what's a deal with this guy – is he this pathetic all the time or is it only for my benefit?

JT shook his head and answered sheepishly:

- You know, Tinkerbell, I don't buy it – that you came to check on him. If Cat told you everything – and by the way you treat him I'm guessing you know the whole story – then you should've known he's in the same state as, apparently, she is. Then why had you come?

- You are good, you really are! OK, Sherlock, listen up… We have two idiots – should I add that yours is way bigger idiot than mine? – who are willing to let it all go because one doesn't want to be a second choice and other doesn't feel himself "worthy" of a second chance. And both are wrong in their assessments. Are you with me so far?

JT nodded getting a hang of their nicknaming game:

- Sure, Watson, everything is pretty obvious so far. What would be your recommendations for this case?

Heather flinched on being called "Watson" realizing she'd led herself into supporting character trap by naming him "Sherlock" in a first place. But she quickly regained her self control – there were bigger things on stake here than fictional power play.

- Oh, I'm just guessing… who am I to tell what to do the great and ominous Sherlock? – well, she couldn't let it slide that easily, right? She needed to take a bite! But she'd continued, - But I think it's up to us now to set them straight and bring them together so they would stop burning the happiness out of life with their looming sorrow. Am I right or am I right?

JT smiled:

- Yep, you are! Any ideas? Would locking them up in one room be to juvenile?

Heather nodded vigorously:

- I like the direction of your thoughts! But I was planning something more elaborate… So, we'll do this…

**A/N: So this was the surprise I told you about the last chapter. I was so happy when Ksana wrote this chapter for my story that I just rushed things to come to this point like a maniac. You guys have to thank her for the story get to this point quicker than it would normally. **

**Although, the story have to be extended to fix this chapter so you might want to berate her, too. LOL My original plan was to finish it after Beast saves Beauty from the rapists.**

**Besides some little phrases here and there, I didn't alter the chapter because I wanted you to experience her writing stile and, maybe, enjoy the differences. **

**Anyway, I want to thank Ksana again and tell her that she made me really happy it this chapter. I hope you guys like it as much as I did.**

**See ya!**


	24. Evil Plan

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Evil Plan**

JT was upset. Actually, he was kind of pissed.

What infuriated him most was that he was pissed because he was pissed. He really wanted to solve that issue graciously and move on with their lives. It was a simple manner. Vincent loved Catherine and Catherine loved Vincent. They just had to talk and get over all that misunderstanding.

Of course, Vincent had to be more stubborn than a mule, forcing him to keep repeating the same speech for four days uninterruptedly, which it was really annoying. Therefore, he was pissed.

Unfortunately, being pissed had became an unpleasant habit since his thick-headed and genetically altered best friend decided that becoming a hermit was the best way to protect the woman he loved.

The problem was that time was passing and the glassed man still hadn't been able to force Vincent out of the warehouse. Heather's plan had to be executed on Catherine's free time because those two had a lot of things to talk about and, hopefully, they would need time to make up, too. Since Cat wasn't scheduled to work the next day, that had to be the day.

But the lovesick fool simply wasn't cooperating!

"_Enough is enough!"_ JT thought.

The lack of time made him bold. He would put Vincent out of their house, even if he had to shoot him with tranquilizer and drag him out unconscious.

He entered his friend's bedroom with a furious resolve plastered on his face, daring him to start another childish quarrel.

"I'm done, dude! I don't care if your life is miserable. I don't care if you got dumped or if the world is ending. You're going out tonight or, so help me God, I'll turn you in to Muirfield myself! I simply can't stand to have you sulking around the house like a ghost. The only thing missing is chains tied to your ankles. For just one night, I want to sit down, watch the game, have pizza and a beer without seeing your pathetically sad figure around!"

"What?" Vincent asked astonished.

"Get out! Take a walk in the park, find some robber to beat up or something like that! You're forbidden to come back for at least three hours!" JT ordered firmly.

"I don't want to get out!"

"In case you hadn't noticed I don't give a damn about what you want!" the professor barked, throwing his baseball hat and coat at him with a furious expression.

Vincent remained frozen in place for a while, looking wide eyed at his friend, wanting nothing more than to be left alone. He analyzed JT's fierce attitude and that whole new disposition of his. Sighing, he gave up. His friend was right, after all. As always. He couldn't spend the rest of his live sulking for Catherine's loss. As much as it hurt him, eventually, he would have to move on, as he did several times already. He walked slowly towards the door, his head bowed in defeat, jumping at the warehouse's rooftop and running towards the city's lights.

JT observed attentively, trying to catch Vincent's blurry figure speeding up the buildings' rooftops. He was barely able to distinguished him jumping to the next building. If he wasn't so accustomed to see his best friend's inhuman speed, he would have certainly missed him on his way out of the warehouse's perimeter.

He quickly picked up his phone and dialed a number. The person on the other side answered on the second ring, as if waiting for his call.

"You're on!" was all he said before hanging up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx

"Caaaaaaaaaat!"

Heather's voice echoed through the apartment, startling Catherine. She had just arrived home, but her sister was already tracking her down. She must have been waiting for her. Following the voice came a tiny hurricane, pulling the older woman towards her bedroom.

"Shower! Now!" the short haired sister ordered.

"What's going on?" Cat asked, completely taken aback by her sister weird behavior.

"I have a surprise for you! You have to get ready quickly! We don't have much time!"

"Much time for what?"

"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise, silly! Now, go!"

Reluctantly, Cat went to take a long shower, washing the day's stress away, intrigued. Usually, when Heather got as secretive as that, she ended up in situations beyond awkward and she really wasn't in the mood for her eccentricities. When she finished her bath and went to her room to change, her mouth fell open.

"HEATHER!" she shouted indignant, looking at her bed wide eyed.

"What?" the other woman came running, her face the image of innocence.

"Care to explain what the hell is this?" she yelled, pointing to the seductive lingerie placed on her bed.

It was a stunning deep red silk set of bra and panties. It wasn't too extravagant, ornate with laces on the bra's top and the panties' sides. The attraction was all on the set's captivating color and sensual molding. Cat had bought them almost a year ago in a moment when she wanted to feel sexy and feminine. In her mind, a faceless man looked at her choice of underwear with hungry eyes.

She never get to use the set, though. She bought it in the beginning of her brief relationship with Zeke, but he didn't have a chance to see it. They didn't stay together long enough for her to feel comfortable about using it to his delight.

"We're going to a pole dance class and I thought we should look good so all the girls there would die of envy," Heather explained nonchalantly.

"What?" Cat whispered stunned. "Heather, please, tell me this is just a joke!"

"Of course not! We talked about that, remember?"

"Months ago! As a joke! After he had consumed a thousand margaritas!"

"Hum..." the younger sister seemed to consider Cat's argument for a second, shrugging after that. "You should have told me you didn't really wanted it. Now the session is already paid and we don't want to waste our money, do we?"

"HEATHER!"

"What? Stop yelling at me! I want to be able to hear the teacher's instructions!"

"I can't believe you did such thing without consulting me!"

"But, Cat, you don't talk to me anymore! All you do is hide in your bedroom. I wanted to do something fun without having to worry about being almost rapped by the end of the night," she said, doing her best puppy dog's eyes.

Cat felt her cheeks burning at her sister's statement. Her sister went through a more than traumatic experience, not only for being attacked by those horrible criminals, but also finding out the truth about Vincent, and she had been nothing, but supportive. She had tried her hardest to be there for Cat and her older sister hadn't returned the favor.

The long haired girl had been trying to forget about Vincent and get over her sadness, but it was hard. Everything reminded her of him, including her job. She knew she had promised Heather to move on and she felt like breaking her promise, which added guilt to her sorrow. She wasn't _that_ guilty, though, to let her sister put her in yet another one of her... exotic entertainment plans.

"Heath, this isn't my idea of fun right now," she said sweetly and carefully.

She didn't want her sister to feel like she was refusing her, but that idea was beyond ludicrous.

Heather knew she was about to loose that battle. Luckily, she knew her sister well enough to foresee that reaction and had thought about ways to make the older woman do what she wanted.

"But Tess would be so disappointed! She's really excited about doing this! She just found out her boyfriend's wife does a kick ass striptease. She wants to be in the same level. Are you seriously telling me you'll deny your best friend a chance with her guy because you're being a prude?"

Catherine's face fell instantly. She hadn't been a good friend for Tess lately, too.

"_Oh, yeah! I'm a genius!"_ Heather thought seeing the guilty written all over her sister's face.

Cat sighed, admitting defeat, "If I get uncomfortable just for one second...!" she threatened.

"We'll be out of there immediately, I promise!"

"We better!"

"Yay! Cat, you're the best friend and sister ever!" the younger sister cheered, hugging her happily.

"Whatever!" Cat said in a complaining tone.

Heather had also chosen her outfit. Thankfully, it was much more discreet, just black jeans and a white silky blouse completed with black high heels boots. The final result was sexy and casual, just the way Cat liked.

Her baby sister almost had a heart attack when she tried to leave the apartment without make up. Apparently, it didn't matter that they would be exclusively among women. So she made an effort and did a light production, almost like the one she used to work every day, adding only a deeper shade of pink on her lips. All in all, she looked cute.

The older sister was slightly bad humored when they finally reached Heather's car, but the younger didn't seem to mind, talking non stop about the cute guy she met at work that week. Her mindless chat was actually distracting and Cat relaxed a little bit. They drove for about ten minutes when she noticed that they were going in the wrong direction.

"Heather, you're forgetting Tess!" she exclaimed.

"What?" the younger sister asked confused. Then, she remembered her little trick and tried to fix her mistake. "Oh, yeah, of course..." she said, hesitant. "Tess will go in her own car. I think she's eager to show her new tricks to her man."

The detective on Cat caught the lie and she noticed that they were heading to a very familiar and almost devoid of nightly activity neighborhood. She turned to her face the wicked short haired woman with a stern face.

"What are you doing, Heather?" and her voice had a little bit of threat.

"Fixing up this mess, of course!" she responded like that was just a normal situation.

"Heather, please, stop! I..." Cat pleaded in a desperate tone.

"No, Cat! You stop! Can you see that you and Vincent are just being stubborn? You both are miserable without each other and it's making me sick!" Heather said in a hard tone.

"You don't understand, I..." she tried to explain, but the younger woman was tired of her futile arguments.

"You're right, I don't understand," Heather said with fervent passion. "I don't understand why you're giving up on a love like that. I don't understand how can you be so smart and so stupid at the same time. You think it's easy to find someone that loves you as much as Vincent does? You think people wouldn't want to have what you have? You were actually capable of seeing the best on Vincent even knowing everything about him. Even seeing what he is and what he can do. Even knowing that he's not always in control of himself. I shriver just to think about it, but you look at him like he was the Sun. If that's not true love, Cat, I don't know what it is! If that's not worth fighting for, I don't want to live in this world!"

Cat's eyes watered, but she was tired of crying. She could already see the warehouse's form approaching fast and a white panic made her body's heat decrease a little.

"You said he's miserable. How do you know?" she asked timidly.

"I went there and saw him. He's not even miserable, Cat! It's beyond that. It's like he's not even living. Pretty much like you. You love each other, Cat. You can deny it as much as you want, but I don't think you both will ever get over each other," her sister said in a sweet tone.

"I... I don't think I'll get over him, too. It's just... If he really loves me, how could he do what he did?"

"People do stupid things when they're scared, sweetie. He was afraid to hurt you and JT. He _was_ trying to protect you, but he wasn't thinking straight. How can you be mad at him for loving you?"

"I'm scared, Heath. What if he doesn't really love me? What if he doesn't want me anymore? I don't want to get hurt again. I... I don't know what to do," she admitted quietly.

"Catherine, the guy is crazy about you and you're dressed in sexy underwear. Figure out!" Heather ordered in a mischievous tone.

By the time their talk finished, they were already parked outside the warehouse. Cat looked at it for a long time, trying to decide what to do. Despite the paralyzing fear of being rejected, she wanted nothing more than to go there and see for herself if Heather was right about Vincent's feelings.

She faced her sister again and kissed her cheek, saying, "Thanks, Heath! _You _are the best sister ever!" before getting out of the car.

**A/N: Guys, I really tried to be a better person and get over the fact that people don't like to review, but seeing - or should I say not seeing? - the last two chapters lack of reviews got me kinda depressed. **

**I understand not having lots of reviews in my other stories because I know that my style is not the most popular around here. But this story has a lot of followers. I wonder if people put it on their favorites and regret it later. **

**Maybe I just got too excited to have a great writer like TaleNeverTold writing a chapter for me, but I thought you would like it, too. I got sad that people didn't care about it. **

**I can't even get excited with Heather's evil plan. Call me a "crying baby", but I'm hurt.**


	25. Candles and Flesh

**Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction written for fun. I don't own Beauty and the Beast in any way. **

**Candles and Flesh**

Vincent's phone rang with the message tone. For a moment, he thought about ignoring it, but years of worrying about Muirfield made him give up that idea. He pulled it out of his pocket almost unwillingly. It was JT.

"_Turns out that being alone in this big warehouse wasn't such a good idea. It's too quiet. Come watch the game with me,"_ said the message.

The ex-soldier sighed heavily. JT was really abusing his right to be temperamental that night. Going back home sounded like a good idea, though. He didn't want to get out in the first place, anyway. Looking up, he realized that there was no point on being where he was at that moment. He didn't even know why he was still there.

Catherine's apartment was in the dark and there was no one inside. She must have went out with Heather again. In a way, that was a good thing. He had to learn how to control that stubborn bit of hope that insisted on telling him that he still had a future with her. He could have tried to follow her scent around the city, but there was no point on it. The brunette had made clear she didn't want him in her life anymore and he thought he owned her to respect her wishes for once.

He couldn't avoid going there, though. As soon as he got out in the open, his feet took him there on their own accord. Catherine was his gravity. He would always be drawn to her. He wondered how he would spend the rest of his life resisting the urge to go to her.

JT calling him back home was kind of perfect. Otherwise, Vincent would spend the whole night waiting for her arrival, just to have a glimpse of her. Jumping the rooftops on his way back to the warehouse distracted him a little bit from the pain in his heart. He smiled bitterly, thinking that he would have to start running on daily basis to think about anything other than the love he lost.

The warehouse looked different from the outside. The lights were off, but there was still light showing through the windows. Intrigued, he tried to hear something, but there was no unusual sound coming from the inside, which made him anxious. The TV was supposed to be on with the game JT was watching. The war veteran couldn't smell his best friend, too. Worry clouded his better judgment and he stormed inside the building, only to be greeted by a surreal vision.

There was a path formed from two lines of lightened candles and filled with red rose's petals on the floor. It started on the entrance and went directly to the stairs, leading to his bedroom. The petals' faint smell provided an almost seductive atmosphere. Only then he relaxed enough to smell a much stronger scent in the air. A scent that he thought he would never smell in his house again. The sound of a heart, beating frenetically, invaded his ears and he thought he had finally lost his mind.

He couldn't believe his senses. Specially because they told him that the scent and the sound were coming from where the path of candles and petals ended. His bedroom. For once, he didn't think about threats, about security or about danger. He just ran, following the scent. Not even his wildest dreams had prepared him to see what he saw.

Catherine was seating on his bed, looking beyond gorgeous, wearing only the most sexy red underwear he ever saw. She had a red rose in her hands and her cheeks were tinted with an adorable shade of pink. Her heartbeat increased even more when he entered the room, but she tried to look confident, smiling at him.

"Catherine?" Vincent asked, knowing he would look stupid by doing so.

He had to be sure that that wasn't just the ultimate good dream.

"Hi!" the petite woman responded, feeling ridiculous for being in his bed on that outfit.

She made a decision after talking to JT, though, and she wouldn't regret it now. She extended her right hand to him, inviting him to come closer. He stayed in his place, though, surprised and unsure. He didn't know what to think of that.

"Catherine, I... I thought that... that you didn't want to..." the dark haired man stuttered, fighting his astonishment.

"See you again?" she completed for him, shyly. "I can't, Vincent. Believe me, I tried. Apparently, my heart wants what it wants and that's it."

"And what does your heart want?" he murmured, walking slowly towards her.

"You, Vincent! Not just now. It always wanted you," she confessed while he got close enough to touch the tip of her extended fingers. "Since the beginning. My fate was sealed nine years ago, too," Catherine affirmed, remembering what he said on JT's letter.

"Catherine!" he exclaimed, covering the last steps that separated them in an almost run and taking her in his arms, hugging her tightly. "My Catherine! My beautiful Catherine!" he chanted, feeling the softness of her skin under his palms.

All the tension and the sadness that threatened to break her in two during that past month went away with the warmth of his body pressed against hers. She felt her eyes watering and, for the first time since seeing him on that hateful cell, she didn't mind crying. Those were happy tears and she would gladly cry them for the rest of her life.

"I'm sorry, my Catherine! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!" he repeated over and over.

His voice was wavering and she felt his body convulsing and understood that he was crying, too. She smiled through her tears and kissed his shoulders, neck and chest. She kissed every available surface of his body that her lips could reach in that tight embrace, actually. He followed her lead right away and both of them were lost in the pure joy of being finally able to express their love.

Vincent loosened his grip on her, gently pushing her a little off him so he could look at her amazingly beautiful hazel eyes. She wiped the tears that were rolling down his scarred cheek before cupping it, the same way she did when they first talked, all those months ago.

"I love you, Catherine!" he confessed, unable to wait another second to tell her what was in his heart.

"I know! JT told me so," she teased.

She laughed out loud of his fake-offended expression.

"Did he now?" he asked, smiling.

She seemed so relaxed in his arms. Like some kind of magic had brought back the smile to her face. His heart sang because he knew that the magic was in his arms.

"Yes, he did," she confirmed, still laughing. Then, she sobered up and explained, "JT and Heather did all this for us, Vincent. They said you were miserable without me," he nodded, confirming it. "I was miserable without you, too. Heather made me come here to talk to you. JT was waiting for me. He told me what red roses mean to you."

"Eternal love," he whispered, touching her forehead with his.

"Yes. When he told me that, I understood why you kept leaving them by my windowsill and I knew I owned you one. I want you to have my eternal love, too," she said, smiling and giving him the rose she was still holding.

He took the rose, not caring that she was seeing the tears falling from his eyes and said quietly, "You're not obligate to do this, Catherine. Just because my heart is yours, you don't need to promise me your heart, too."

"I want to. I want you to know I feel the same, Vincent. I'm sorry for running away and not letting you talk to me. I was so afraid you would dump me. JT and Heather tried to convince me that you loved me, but I just couldn't believe it after reading that letter."

"I'm so sorry, Catherine. You don't know how much I regret being so stupid. I was so desperate. All I could think about was how I would end up hurting you and JT. I kept picturing myself k... killing you," his voice wavered at the affirmation. "I wouldn't survive that, Catherine! Even if I didn't do that, I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you. I really thought I was doing the right thing. Just thinking about leaving you made me almost insane, but I thought I was protecting you. Both of you."

"When are you going to believe that you'll never hurt me?" she asked with a sweet expression. He dropped his head a little, closing his eyes. "Vincent, look at me!" Catherine ordered gently and he couldn't resist to comply. "The only thing that can hurt me is loosing you. I love you. More than you can ever imagine."

Hearing her saying those words made all disappear. The only thing that exist in the world was her and he had to satiate his hunger for her. He covered her lips with his in a deep, desperate kiss. She tasted like vanilla and honey, like the most addicting drug.

Like heaven.

Like happiness.

She entangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him even closer to her, until there was no space between them. It wasn't enough, though. She needed to feel him, to have his skin touching hers, to have him all.

"Vincent," she whispered sweetly right below his ear when they came out for air, making him shiver because that was just too damn sexy. "I want you!"

"I want you, too!" he responded dazzled, not really thinking about what she really meant.

The brunette didn't waste any time and pushed his coat out of his shoulders. Only then he understood the real meaning of her words. A light breeze made Catherine's skin bristle and her arms were suddenly empty. She watched with confused eyes as Vincent fled to the opposite wall, panting and wide eyed. His eyes flashed yellow for a second.

"Vincent?" the petite brunette called, scared with his reaction. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Catherine, no! We can't!" he whispered slowly, fighting the adrenaline and trying to tone down his fear.

"I thought... You said you wanted me, too," she stated, clearly confused.

"I do! Believe me, I do!" he responded in a sincere tone, taking a few steps back to her, but remaining out of her reach. "Please, understand! There's nothing I want more than to be with you. But I can't! Just thinking about making love to you... I don't want to hurt you! I can't risk to let myself go like I want to do with you. I can't risk to loose control like this. You know how dangerous I can be. If I hurt you..."

"You won't!" she interrupted him. "You'll never hurt me, Vincent! You didn't hurt me that night nine years ago and you won't do it now!"

"I will!"

"You can't know that! You can't know for sure if you don't try. Vincent, I trust you. Come here!"

Once again, it was impossible to deny what she wanted. Mostly because he wanted the same thing. He wanted to have her in his arms for the rest of his life. He stood in front of her and she intertwined her fingers in his. He brought her delicate left hand to his lips and kissed it sweetly, closing his eyes to better savor the taste of her soft skin, worried about what she could think about what he was going to tell her.

"I do know! Two years ago I was with a woman," he could almost sense her expression changing to one of shock. "When we... The excitement triggered the change. It was too much adrenaline..."

"Did you... did you kill her?" Catherine asked in a barely audible voice.

"No, but only because she ran away scared when I became... more aggressive," he admitted, looking up at her with sorrowful eyes.

"Vincent..."

The ex-soldier didn't let her say anything, expressing his deepest fear in a hurried tone, "I know you, Catherine. You won't ran away, you'll try to make me feel better and calm me down. It's too dangerous!"

The hazel eyed woman didn't know what to do or say. All her instincts told her that Vincent was simply incapable of hurting her, that even in the early days of his transformation, his only instincts were to protect her. A part of her was insecure, though. Naively, she thought that he hadn't have any interaction with the opposite sex during that time in his life. Irrational as it was, she couldn't fight the jealous of that unknown woman.

Did he have feelings for her back then? Did he still care about her?

"Was she... was she important?" she questioned uncertain.

"No! No, Catherine! Didn't you understand yet? No one is important, it's only you! It was always you! I... I just did that because..." he stopped talking, afraid of what she would think.

"Because...?" she incited him.

He sighed and asked, "Do you remember Luke Andersen?"

Luke had been her boyfriend two years ago. For a while, they were pretty close and the relationship seemed to be moving forward. As every other one of her relationships, though, it ended up in a silly way. She got really upset with the end of it at the time, but she understood now that Luke just wasn't the man for her.

"What? Why are you talking about him?"

The confusion was evident on her face.

"When Andersen entered your life, I thought that was it. I thought that he was the one and you would be with him. I knew it would happen eventually, of course. I knew that I didn't have any chance to be part of your life and that you wouldn't be alone for long, but knowing it didn't make me feel less bitter about it. Being the idiot that I am, I tried to find a way to relieve my frustration. Like a lot of stupid men around the world, I just went to a bar and hooked up with the first girl that showed up. You can fill in the blanks," he explained with a bitter smile.

A silly happiness invaded her heart and she threw herself in his arms, not caring about his cautiousness. Could that man be any sweeter?

She kissed him with all she had. It didn't matter their past or if he's DNA was altered or not. They belonged to each other and nothing would be in the middle of them. He was surprised with her reaction, but kissed her back with equal passion. Even with all the worry for her safety, it was just impossible to resist her. She tasted too damn good!

When they parted for air, both panting, she said, "I don't know who that girl was, Vincent, but she wasn't me. And, whatever your issues are, they aren't mine. I love you, Vincent. I love all of you. You'll just have to accept this because I'm not going anywhere. _You _are the one for me and I won't let you doubt that. Do you understand?"

"What did I do to deserve you?" Vincent whispered.

"You exist. That's enough reason to me."

He just nodded, too overwhelmed by the love he felt for that wonderful woman. He still thought he didn't deserve her, but there was nothing in the world that would make him give up on her. He spent nine years loving her from afar and now she finally was his. It was a gift he never thought he would receive someday, but he would certainly treasure for the rest of his life.

Catherine trusted him and he decided that he should trust her, too. He didn't trust himself, but she did and her judgment of his inner monster had been better than his so far. She was right in a way. He never lost control around her. Even in his full killer mode, he was always aware of her presence. When he was in his altered form around her, his mind got somehow clearer, he had more control.

And things had changed, even if his situation wasn't exactly the one he wanted. He had yet to tell her about that, but ever since he took the serum they made based on Vanessa's notes, he had more control than ever over his alter ego.

Maybe he could make love to her. It was worth to try.

Vincent took a firm grasp on the back of her head with his right hand and pulled her to him, kissing her, long and passionately, letting himself be, letting the love repressed in his heart until that moment take control, letting her sweet scent overwhelm his senses, the warmth of her skin light a fire in his body.

Her scratching nails trailed a path of fire on his back while his left hand found their way to the soft skin of her stomach. The more he pressed, the more she gave and, soon, both of them felt the passion banging the walls of their resistance.

He broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers again to say, "Catherine, you don't know how much I want this. Seeing you looking so unbelievably tempting and beautiful in this outfit makes me... Just looking at you... I want you! So much! You're my everything... But I can't be sure if I'll be able to keep in control. You have to promise me that you'll make me stop the second I get too carried away!"

"No!" she replied simply.

Her voice was so sweet and so full of love that he almost couldn't think. The animal side of him didn't care about any of his fears. The only thing "the beast" wanted was to claim his mate, to finally allow itself to be complete.

But Vincent wasn't a beast. He was a man. A man in love.

"Catherine, this isn't a joke," he pleaded.

"I know. I'm not going to lie to you, though. I won't try to repress or push you away, no matter what you look like. I can promise you that I won't put myself in unnecessary danger, but I know you won't hurt me," the petite female said with confidence, taking his hand and putting it above her heart. "Vincent, this is yours. I'm yours. Be sure of that. As much as I'm sure that this," she put her hand above his heart. "is mine. All of you is mine. Even when you're changed, you're mine. Trust this. Trust us."

Vincent already knew that inside of him, but hearing her saying it made him believe that what he felt was real. They belonged to each other.

Was that what kept him focused when she was around while he was transformed? Was his love for her that powerful?

The answer was simple and direct. Yes.

Her words had a curious effect on him. Suddenly, there was no more hesitation, no more doubts, there was no more beast. It was only Catherine and Vincent, cocooned on the warmth of their love, protected by their own destiny. They were only a man and a woman, the way it should always had been.

Catherine yanked his shirt off in a hurried gesture, hissing with the wonderful feeling of his smooth skin covering hard muscles touching her heated flesh. The soft touch of her hands on his naked torso was both soothing and arousing. She pulled him towards her, slowly lowering herself on her back over the bed. It hadn't been necessary much encouragement from her part for him to cover her petite frame with his large one.

The feeling of his body over hers was intoxicating. She wanted more. She wanted everything. Moaning, she wrapped her legs around his waist, trusting her hips up to meet his, her panties covered core meeting his denim covered bulge. The ex-soldier let out a guttural growl, making her entire body vibrate with need.

"Vincent," she panted, pleadingly, her hands fighting his jeans.

"Catherine," he responded with adoration before pushing down the stripes of her bra.

Her exposed breasts were perfect to his eyes. Her rosy nipples seemed so inviting, soft and beautiful. He traced a path of kisses from her shoulder to them, feeling like he was in a dream. The taste of her skin was like a drug. His favorite drug. He just couldn't get enough of it, he couldn't stop until her nipples were inside his mouth.

She let out a strangled growl, something that sounded almost like an agonizing whimper while she shut her eyes and squeezed the sheets tightly to relieved her pleasant tension. The hardness of his arousal pushing the silky fabric of her panties on her intimacy caused a maddening contrast. His wet tongue teasing her heated and hard nipple was torturing her, sending a million of electrical shocks to her femininity, bringing her closer and closer to...

Vincent stopped abruptly, pushing his body away from hers. Catherine opened her eyes immediately, worried, and found two golden orbs staring down at her. He had a panicked expression, breathing heavily, his veins making blue patterns over his skin, hovering over her.

"My Vincent!" she whispered sweetly.

The brunette pushed her body up, refusing to break their body's contact, kissing the corner of his half transformed mouth confidently. She grabbed his jeans and boxers again and pushed them down without hesitation, exposing his fully aroused and beautiful penis, apparently obvious to his altered state. Her whole body followed her movement and her head leveled with this engorged cock. Her hot breath touched it and he felt like loosing control all over again.

He put a restraining clawed hand on her face, forcing her to look at his inhuman eyes, clearly confused. Strangely enough, the gesture had never been so gentle.

"I love you. All of you. I'm not afraid," the petite woman affirmed.

Those simple words worked like magic. The dark haired man regained control instantly and he changed back to his human form. She was his cure.

"I love you," he responded fervently.

Everything went like a blur, then. He got rid of the restraining jeans and pushed her down on the mattress firmly. Her panties were ripped in the urgency of their passion and he entered her panting, growling, lost in the haze of his desire. She followed his frenzy, _her_ animal side uncontrolled, letting out small screams of pleasure, chanting his name, bitting every bit of skin she could reach.

They were one, equal, wild, non domesticated, free. Two animals of the same kind, finally reunited. Finally finding their mate.

They lost the count of how many times they reached their pick together, of how many times they made love, of how many hours they spent adoring each other. Time was meaningless, life was meaningless. All that matter was their love.

When they collapsed on the bed, both exhausted and beyond satisfied, a happy peace engulfed them. The yellow glow of the candles reflected the warmth of their hearts and Vincent pulled Catherine over his chest. They spent hours cuddled up in each other's arms talking. Talking about themselves, about their insecurities and fears. Talking about their future.

The ex-soldier told her about the memories of her mother in Afghanistan and how her research had helped him and JT to make the serum that helped him to get more control over his animal side. He kissed the tears that rolled down her cheeks when she found out her mom was the doctor that changed his DNA. He made sure to make her understand that he didn't blamed Vanessa, that she was one of the few people that really cared about his unit.

The brunette told him how much she feared that he was just being overly careful on dumping her and apologized for all the times she denied him a chance to talk to her. She told him that those obnoxious men on the night club meant nothing to her or her sister and explained what Mathew was doing in her father's wedding with her. She told him about her love and told him that his image was engraved in her heart, not giving any space for any other man.

They shared hope for a better future with the progress they were doing on Vincent's cure. Most of all, they allowed themselves to dream with their lives, to make plans and be happy because they were together. For real.

"We can do this, Vincent! Together!" Catherine affirmed, her eyes shinning with love.

"Together!" Vincent confirmed.

**The End.**

**A/N: And that's it. This is a happy universe. In it, Vincent and JT found a cure using Vanessa's work, VinCat went to that little town near Denver and lived happily ever after.**

**I'm not too good at this smut stuff. I usually get lost in telling the story and forget that people like to see steamy. It's just that the stories I had in my mind don't usually have a lot of space for that kind of thing. I'm trying, though. The next story will have a lot more smut than this one, I promise. **

**I want to thank everyone that took the time to review this story. I made a lot of wonderful friends because of that, specially JMHolm, BritCroft, TaleNeverTold, Frbbjbaby4545, Anne Sullivan, Medwards245, Kriesha and Nina2988. **

**Thanks to everyone else that favorited and followed it. It means a lot to me. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. Sometimes, I read the story again and think "Who the hell wrote this story?". Whoever was, it made a decent job. **


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